Banana Walnut Bread with Whipped Spiced Butter
Hi loves, how was your Fourth of July weekend? Conventional answers may include, but are not limited to, backyard barbeques. Trips to the beach/lake/river/insert-body-of-water-here. Outfits of the blue, red, and white color scheme. Spectacular firework shows. But if you ask me? Well...I baked banana bread. TONS of banana bread. I swear my kitchen still smells like bananas and warm spices.
I was inspired to tackle banana bread as my next project for two reasons. Reason #1, it’s a popular quarantine dish. Of course, banana bread has always been a classic. But since the pandemic hit, banana bread has come back into fashion. Strike that. It’s exploded back into fashion. Reason #2, banana bread is my go-to gift idea. This tasty treat is seriously the perfect gift for birthdays, holidays, or just for a quick pick-me-up. With some time on my hands, why not go ahead and perfect my recipe?
My baking blitz this weekend had a marvelous result: a moist, tender-crumbed banana walnut bread. It’s comfort food at its finest.
Confession: I used to eat banana bread straight out of the Tupperware container. Plain. Room temperature. But then dear boyfriend introduced me to the art of toasting your banana bread, topped off with a hearty dollop of butter. Voilà. Life changing hack. I absolutely have to toast my banana bread now. Serving it with a side of warm spiced butter is just the proverbial icing on the cake.
The Ingredient List
This recipe uses simple pantry ingredients, which makes it easy to make on a whim! Some ingredient standouts:
Bananas, of course! The rule of thumb for great banana bread is to use VERY ripe bananas. Ripe = all brown and freckly. I’ve tried before to use regular old yellow bananas and the result was banana bread that didn’t taste quite so banana-y. Look, it’s hard being patient and waiting for bananas to ripen. The good news is that there is a hack: arrange your bananas on a baking sheet and pop them in a 300℉ preheated oven for 15 minutes. Boom — ripe bananas!
Brown Sugar: While I typically love using granulated sugar, brown sugar has a leg up in this recipe. In my first round of this banana bread baking blitz I used only granulated sugar. The result was less than ideal; the flavors tasted really flat. Then I started using dark brown sugar and it was a total game changer. Use brown sugar! It really enhances the banana flavor.
Spices: I love adding spices to my baking, especially warm spices. Cinnamon. Nutmeg. Cloves. Ginger. Delicious. The spices add a little kick of flavor to the bread.
Walnuts: My previous versions of this recipe didn’t use walnuts. My banana bread attempts, while tasty, felt like they were missing something, but I couldn’t put my finger on what was missing. Then I threw in some walnuts. Walnuts + bananas = match made in heaven. The addition of the nuts creates a more complex texture and flavor to the recipe. And I’m not about the simple flavor life.
Making the Banana Bread
Grab 3 bowls — yep this is a dishwasher kind of night. In one bowl (use the smallest!), mash the bananas with a fork. Go ahead, get that 9-to-5 workweek angst out on those bananas.
The second bowl will be reserved for the other wet ingredients. Melt some butter in the microwave. Cream together the melted butter and brown sugar (the concoction will look super yummy). Then beat in those eggs and the vanilla. Add in the mashed bananas.
In the last bowl (use a large one!), whisk together all the dry ingredients. Make a well in center and add in your wet ingredients. Stir until combined but don’t overmix! Throw in those chopped walnuts.
Bake at 350℉ in a greased 9” x 5” loaf pan for about 55 minutes. I cover my banana bread with foil around the 25 minute mark so the top doesn’t get too brown.
Take that loaf of deliciousness out of the oven and let cool…or go ahead and get your snack on! Serve alongside some spiced butter.
Is there a better comfort food than banana bread? I think not.
Banana Walnut Bread with Whipped Spiced Butter
Ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cup mashed ripe bananas (approx. 4 ½ bananas)
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 eggs, room temp.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- Pinch of salt
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Grease and flour a 9” x 5” loaf pan (I’ve been using Baker’s Joy spray and it’s a miracle-worker!).
- Coarsely chop the walnuts. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger).
- In another bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Aim for an applesauce-like consistency.
- In (yet) another bowl, melt the butter. Cream together the melted butter with the brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Then add in the mashed bananas and vanilla extract.
- Make a well in the center of the dry-ingredients bowl and gradually add in the wet-ingredient mixture. It’s okay if the batter is slightly lumpy!
- Gently fold in the chopped walnuts.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Place in the oven to bake for approximately 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Tip: I cover the loaf pan with foil after 25 minutes so the top doesn’t get too brown.
- Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes. Then remove the banana bread from the pan and finish cooling on a wire rack—if you can wait that long!
- Combine the softened butter and warm spices in a bowl.
- Use a hand mixer and mix until well-combined.
- Add a pinch of salt, and adjust the spice measurements to your taste. Serve with warm banana bread.
