Monday, April 13, 2009

Outrageously Moist Banana Nut Bread



Banana bread should be many things. It should be very banana-y. It should be a beautiful golden brown. It should be studded with toasty nuts or melty chocolate chunks. It should be fresh, flavorful . . . homey. Must most of all? Banana bread should be outrageously, unbelievably moist.


Moist Banana Nut Bread
from BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher

1 1/2 cups pecans
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 pinch cinnamon
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups mashed ripe banana
1/2 cup heavy cream

Place your oven shelf in the lower third of your oven, and preheat 350 degrees.

Arrange the pecans evenly on a large baking sheet. Place in the preheated oven and roast the nuts for about 10 minutes, until fragrant and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and stir in the butter and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Then allow the nuts to cool. Chop coarsely, and set aside.

Turn your oven up to 375 degrees now. Apply cooking spray and flour to a loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, vanilla, eggs, buttermilk, and bananas. Form a well in the middle of the flour mixture, and pour the liquid ingredients into the well. Stir until just incorporated.

Use an electric mixer to whip the whipping cream until it forms soft peaks. Fold the whipped cream gently into the batter. Add the nuts and fold those in as well.

Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 35 minutes, until the loaf is a light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing the bread from the pan. Then let it cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!


5 comments:

Donna-FFW said...

This does look incerdibly moist.. Love to bake with bananas Ill have to try this variation.

Candace said...

looks. so. good.

What's Cookin Chicago said...

Oh wow - this looks amazing! Thanks for posting this as I've been eyeing the Bakewise cookbook!

Michelle said...

Your banana bread looks so yummy! I have tried several recipes but they have never looked as good as yours. I'm going to give it a try! Thanks for sharing!

Chloe said...

Oh wow. I was searching for a good banana bread recipe today, and your photos just looked sooo delish, so I ended up walking over 4 miles to get the ingred. I needed. :)
This turned out amazing, and the inside of mine looked just as good as yours except had a much darker crust... I had to bake it for about 45 minutes, because the middle was still liquid at 35. Next time I will probably make this in two loaf pans (from the pics, this looks like what you did). Also, I might bake it around 360.
Also, salt is in the list of ingred. but you forgot to mention it in the directions, so I threw it in last minute! Just thought I'd let you know so others don't leave the salt out.
Thanks...so yummy!

 

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