Simply Bananas

A few years ago, I was obsessed with making the best banana bread. I found myself preparing batch after batch of the sweet bread, and making my old college roommates sample each one. Eventually I developed a recipe with which I was satisfied and tucked it away knowing I could return when the craving hit. I have no idea why, but it wasn’t until now several years later, that, upon noticing my hoard of frozen bananas and an indecent craving for sweet comfort food, that I decided to revisit the recipe.

So, I hit my stash and thawed a few bananas. But, after much searching, I still could not find my recipe. Since moving (I think a total of 3 times since those banana bread days), I must have misplaced or tossed out that precious file. However, never one for defeat, I decided to recreate it from what little I could recall. And, you know what? They turned out even better than I remember!

These muffins are fragrant with ripe banana and a layer of sweetly, caramel toasted hazelnuts. That alone should have made this recipe the winner. Moist, soft and tender, these muffins burst with bright banana flavor. You’ll find that you are perfectly happy waking up to the blissful scent of banana bread for breakfast or snacking on them with coffee or tea any time of day.


My boss also gave me some bananas last week that I turned into little loaves with pistachios and cardamom...mmmm. But I am sorry to report that I have no photos of those lovelies.


Even though I’m always tempted to bake outrageous or elaborate creations, I still love to fall back on the simplest of treats.

My banana bread. Redefined.

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar (I used 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup light brown sugar)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 bananas, pureed with a handheld immersion blender

1/2 cup buttermilk

spices -- cinnamon, cardamom, mace....

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.

Working with an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat at medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, and then add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated after each. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the bananas. Finally, alternate mixing in the dry ingredients and the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour mixture.

Fill muffin cups or loaf pans 2/3rds full and bake in the preheated oven until golden.

muffins -- 15-20 minutes

mini loaves -- 20 minutes

large loaves -- 45-60 minutes

See more of the Pastry Princess' dessert recipes!

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