Banana Nut Bread

When Joyce from Kitchen Flavours suggested this recipe for our bake-along with me and Lena, from Frozen wings late last year, I know instantly that this is the most ideal fuel for my marathon training...

Comparing to my previous moist and buttery Martha Stewart's banana loaf, this one has lesser butter and banana but contains buttermilk instead. If you are expecting a fluffy cake, this is definitely not the kind. This banana bread is dense in its texture and fully packed with lots of banana and energy. For my training, I had to fast-forward my bake-along baking to bake this loaf. Being filling to eat and long-lasting for my energy supply, this banana bread has been really effective for my training. And not surprisingly at all, I have actually baked this recipe for more than once!

By accident, I have discovered an interesting way of baking this loaf with a nice nutty crowning top and here's something to share... Instead of mixing in the nuts into the cake batter, I filled up the cake batter to about 80% of the prepared pan and then gently push in the pre-roasted nuts from the top of the batter. The finishing bread would be then beautifully dome-shaped with the nutty topping after baking.

Besides sticking to the original recipe, I have also baked them in form of banana muffins with chocolate chips for me and my son... And all I can say is we are going bananas with all these banana baking!

My banana bread with a nutty dome 

The essential ingredients

This is how I made my banana bread with this nutty crowning top...

This banana bread is dense and very filling to eat.

Using this recipe to bake banana chocolate chips muffins for my son...

Enjoying slices of this bread with light spread of honey... They are very powerful for my run!

Here's the recipe from Williams-Sonoma
(with my modification in blue)

Ingredients:
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar (reduced to 150g)
2 or 3 very ripe bananas, coarsely mashed (about 1 1⁄2 cups)
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1⁄2 cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda (replaced with baking powder)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (replaced with ground cinnamon)
1⁄2 tsp salt
3⁄4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts (I used per-roasted walnuts)
 
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until creamy, about 1 min. Add the bananas and eggs and beat until smooth. Add the buttermilk and beat just until combined.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, salt and nuts. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and beat just until combined. The batter should be slightly lumpy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. It should be no more than two-thirds full. Bake until the loaf is dark golden brown and dry to the touch and the edges pull away from the sides of the pan, 55 to 60 min. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. Let the bread rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn the loaf out onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut into thick slices to serve. Makes one 9-by-5-inch loaf.

Storage Tip: Wrap the bread tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature overnight or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Note: Using 2/3 of this recipe with raw caster sugar, I've baked this bread in a 8 cm x 17 cm loaf pans at 160°C fan forced for 50 min. 

Using the full amount of this recipe with light brown sugar and chocolate chips (instead of walnuts), I've baked 16 standard size banana chocolate chip muffins at 160°C fan forced for 20 min.

Happy Baking
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Thanks Joyce! This banana bread is very fuel-efficient and great as energy consumption for all sporting events!

Please note that the linky tool for bake-along is no longer available.