Banana Bread
Moist pound cake made from very ripe bananas with walnuts, mixed in one bowl.
- Preparation
- 15 min
- Cook/bake time
- 1 hr
- Total
- 1 hr 15 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Calories
- 376 kcal
- Servings
- 10
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cooking & baking
- 1 hr
Moist pound cake made from very ripe bananas with walnuts, mixed in one bowl. The blacker the bananas, the better the result, because their starch is then completely converted into sugar and their flavor is at its most intense. The best recipe for fruit that would otherwise end up in the trash.
Why this works
In the ripening banana, amylases break down the starch into sugar. A yellow banana has about two percent sugar, while a black one has over fifteen. At the same time, esters like isoamyl acetate are formed, which carry the typical intense banana flavor; they are barely present in unripe fruit. Therefore, a black banana is not a compromise for using up leftovers here, but simply the better ingredient.
Step-by-step instructions
- 1
Mash the bananas
Thoroughly mash three of the bananas with a fork into a puree and leave a few small pieces. Halve the fourth banana lengthwise and set it aside, it will go on top of the batter later as decoration. The darker and softer the bananas are, the sweeter and more flavorful the bread will be.
- 2
Mix the wet ingredients
Mix the melted, slightly cooled butter with the brown sugar until both are combined. Then stir in the eggs, yogurt and vanilla extract and finally the mashed banana. The yogurt ensures that the bread is still moist on the third day instead of becoming dry.
- 3
Fold in the dry ingredients
Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a second bowl and add the mixture all at once to the wet ingredients. Fold everything in with a spatula only until no dry flour is visible. A few pockets of flour are better than a smoothly mixed batter, which becomes tough and rubbery.
- 4
Fill into the pan
Fold in the chopped walnuts and pour the batter into a greased 30 cm loaf pan. Smooth it out and place the two banana halves on top with the cut side up. They caramelize during baking and create the typical look.
- 5
Bake
Bake the banana bread at 175 °C top/bottom heat for 55 to 65 minutes. Cover it loosely with aluminum foil after forty minutes if the surface gets too dark. The toothpick test should only show moist crumbs. Let it cool in the pan for ten minutes and then completely on a wire rack.
Our best tips
- Bananas with black skin are ideal. Yellow bananas result in a noticeably bland outcome.
- You can let bananas that are too hard ripen in the oven for 15 minutes at 150 °C until the skin is black.
- Only mix briefly. Banana bread is a pound cake, not a yeast dough, and does not forgive overmixing.
Tasty variations
With chocolate
Fold in 150 g roughly chopped dark chocolate instead of or in addition to the walnuts.
Vegan
Replace the eggs with 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed mixed with 6 tablespoons of water, the butter with coconut oil and the yogurt with soy yogurt.
Nutrition facts
| Calories | 376 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 47 g |
| – of which sugar | 22 g |
| Fat | 18 g |
| Fiber | 3 g |
Where the 376 kcal come from
per serving
Calculated from the ingredients – how we do it
We add up reference values for every ingredient and divide by the number of servings. These assumptions are baked in:
- Reference values per 100 g – for the raw ingredient, exactly as listed.
- Tinned goods count at drained weight, bone-in meat at purchase weight: you eat about 70 per cent of a chicken thigh and leave the rest.
- Water evaporates as you cook. The energy stays in the pot, the weight does not – so the figure is per serving, not per 100 g of finished dish.
- Anything listed without a quantity – “salt and pepper” – is not counted.
A guide value, not a lab measurement: no two onions weigh the same, and fat content varies from pack to pack.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my banana bread mushy inside?
Usually taken out of the oven too early or too much banana used. 450 g of flesh is the maximum, the batter cannot bind more.
Can I use less sugar?
Yes, down to about 100 g. Very ripe bananas bring a lot of their own sweetness. However, less sugar also affects the moistness.
How long does it keep?
Wrapped in foil for four days and it even gets moister. Frozen in slices, it keeps for three months.
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