My love for recipe development all started with banana bread. My aunt always made really excellent banana bread and every year, my sister and I waited with giddy anticipation for the holidays when we would see her and receive little cellophane parcels of miniature loaves of banana bread. I was about 15 when I asked her for her recipe and decided that I was done waiting until the holidays for banana bread and that I could just learn to make it myself whenever I wanted.
I only made her recipe the way it was written one or two times before I started tinkering. My first big experiment involved wrapping the loaves warm out of the oven in aluminum foil to maximize the amount of that gooey top layer (aka the best part of banana bread). I took my work very seriously and only let the loaves cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before flipping them out and loosely wrapping them and I considered myself somewhat of a culinary genius for discovering that.
As the years went on, I kept playing. I decreased the amount of sugar and then increased it to see what would happen. I subbed in brown sugar and coconut sugar and honey, played with the types of flour I used, and whether to use softened or melted butter. I made this banana bread so often in college that I would show up our little lunch group with a loaf at least once a week and it was dubbed “Anna Banana Bread” amongst my friend group. I could probably make banana bread with my eyes closed at this point.
So this is my long-perfected basic banana bread recipe. It’s the one I jump from when developing a new recipe and will always be the thing I make over and over again when I’m craving comfort or warmth. It’s perfect for taking to friends who are sick or to new parents or for making for when you have out of town guests or roadtrips or really any occasion or non-occasion at all.
why it works
This banana bread recipe varies from others in a couple of key ways—specifically in regards to fat and eggs.
Banana breads fall into the quick bread category which typically involves a liquid fat (melted butter or oil) and the blending method which utilizes just a bowl and whisk. This recipe, however, creams softened butter with the sugars to create a little extra air which contributes to leavening. Because banana bread gets pretty dense, creaming the butter with the sugar creates little pockets of air which will turn to steam and provide a slightly lighter final loaf.
That being said, I have sometimes browned the butter for a nuttier flavor and used it in a liquid state and it works just fine. The result is a slightly denser loaf, but if you’re looking for nuttiness, that’s a place where you can adapt to add flavor.
Also in the fat category is the addition of olive oil. A few years ago I set out to make this recipe more “plush”, specifically like the slices of pumpkin bread you get at Starbucks. The addition of a bit of oil along with the butter adds a little more moisture and helps with emulsification resulting in an extra plush crumb structure.
Lastly, the eggs. I really think the key to this loaf is whipping the eggs. It was how my aunt’s original recipe was written and I’ve tried it many different ways and the incorporation of whipped egg whites is always the winner. I know it’s an extra step (and dirties an extra bowl), but whipping the egg whites and folding them into the batter adds yet another layer of leavening—helping the loaf to rise a bit more and contributes to a lighter crumb structure.
and some tips for adapting
To adapt the flavor, try incorporating aromatics or extracts when you are creaming the butter and sugars. Ground tea, vanilla bean paste, spices like cinnamon or cardamom or nutmeg would all work beautifully here.
As I mentioned before, for a warmer flavor, try browning the butter and letting it cool slightly before creaming with the sugars. You can also incorporate up to 25% of the weight of all purpose flour with an alternative flour like spelt, buckwheat, or rye.
I love the addition of fatty dairy in this recipe, but you can easily play with the type you use—sour cream, yogurt, créme fraîche, or ricotta would all work well.
And lastly, of course you can add mix-ins to make this banana bread your own. Chocolate chips, nuts, shredded coconut, anything your heart desires!
Below, you’ll find a few links to different iterations of this banana bread where you can see how I’ve played with flavor and hopefully get some ideas for putting your own spin on this recipe.
EARL GREY AND CARDAMOM BANANA BREAD
a very good banana bread
makes one 9x5” loaf
Ingredients:
225 g (1 3/4 cup) all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
113 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
50 g (1/4 cup) olive oil
120 g (just over 1/2 cup) granulated sugar
100 g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
3 ripe bananas (about 250 g), mashed
70 g (about 1/3 cup) whole milk yogurt or sour cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, separated
Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a 9x5" loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving about an inch of overhang on each side.
In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar for 1-2 minutes, until all of the sugar is well-coated by the butter and the mixture is light and fluffy. Decrease mixer speed to low and gradually stream in the olive oil, mixing until well-combined.
Add the egg yolks, mashed bananas, vanilla, and yogurt/sour cream and mix until well-combined. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix on low until combined and no flour streaks remain.
In a clean bowl, whip the egg whites to medium peaks. Add the whipped egg whites to the batter in two additions, folding gently with a rubber spatula until there are no remaining streaks of egg whites. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan.
Bake for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center and the sides of the cake begin to pull away from the pan.
Let cool completely in the pan, then turn out onto a cooling rack to slice.
This is truly the best I have ever made. Thank you!
This looks even better than the perfect Starbucks banana bread. Looking forward to giving it (or one of the variations a try)!