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Recreate this banana recipe in the convenience of your own home.

Photo courtesy Magic Ingredients

From the Bachelor’s kitchen: Banana bread

By Samuel Cheng

Published 10:21 PST, Fri January 5, 2024

Last Updated: 10:21 PST, Fri January 5, 2024

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The subject of food and drinks have been a universal language across cultures and nations around the world. The Richmond Sentinel shares delicious food and drink recipes that anyone can make in the convenience of their own home.

Today, we share the recipe of banana bread.

Utensils:

• a loaf pan (approximately 9 inches)

• a mixing bowl

• a rubber spatula

• a whisk

• a sieve

• a fork

• a aluminum foil

Ingredients:

• ripe bananas: 3

• unsalted butter: 120 grams

• granulated white sugar: 130 grams

• eggs: 2

• brown sugar: 95 grams

• all-purpose flour: 300 grams

• salt: 2 grams

• baking powder: 4 grams

• baking soda: 2 grams

• pecans: 70 grams (Note: Can be substituted with other nuts, chocolate chips etc. of your choice)

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius)

2. Peel 3 ripe bananas and place them in a mixing bowl. (Note: Please use ripe or overripe bananas for best result)

3. Use a fork or a utensil of your choice to crush the bananas into mashed form.

4. Add about 100 grams of melted butter. Set the rest aside for later use.

5. Add about 80 grams of brown sugar. Set the rest aside for later use.

6. Crack and add in 2 eggs.

7. Use a whisk and mix all of the ingredients until it is well combined.

8. Sieve and add in 300 grams of all-purpose flour.

9. Add in 2 grams of salt.

10. Add in 4 grams of baking powder.

11. Add in 2 grams of baking soda.

12. Use a rubber spatula and mix until all of the dry ingredients are well mixed in.

13. Add in 50 grams of pecans and mix well. Set the rest aside for later use. (Note: Can be substituted with other nuts, chocolate chips etc. of your choice)

14. Using a stick of butter, rub a thin layer of it in the loaf pan. This is to prevent the banana bread from sticking to the pan when removing it later on.

15. With a rubber spatula, carefully pour the batter mixture into the loaf pan. Use the rubber spatula to flatten and make sure that the top of the batter is nice and even.

16. Sprinkle the rest of the pecans evenly across the top of the batter.

17. Gently press the sprinkled pecans into the batter with the rubber spatula to make sure that they stick to the bread during the duration of baking.

18. Sprinkle the rest of the brown sugar and melted butter over top of the batter.

19. Measure and cut out a piece of aluminum foil to wrap and cover the top of the pan. This is to make sure that the nuts are not overbaked and to prevent the banana bread from becoming too dry during the baking process.

20. Carefully put the aluminum foil covered loaf pan into the oven and bake for one hour.

21. After an hour, carefully remove the aluminum foil from the loaf pan and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.

22. Afterwards, carefully remove the loaf pan from the oven and set aside for it to cool.

23. After it has cooled down, carefully flip the loaf pan upside down to remove the banana bread from the pan.

24. Carefully flip the banana loaf upright with the nuts on top

25. Cut into desired slices and serve.

Voila! A delicious banana loaf is ready for you to share with family and friends.

Do you have bananas that are sitting around and turning brown? If you do, this is the perfect recipe for you to transform those ugly, brown bananas into a delicious bakery treat.

You may wonder, why you should choose to use brown or overripe bananas specifically? There are three main reasons behind this rationale.

First of all, ripe bananas are softer to mash and blend into a batter, which makes the recipe easier to manage.

Second of all, ripe bananas offer a richer “banana” taste and flavor compared to premature or yellow bananas. This is the pinnacle point in making a banana bread’s flavour.

Lastly, premature and yellow bananas are starchy. However, brown and ripe bananas convert the starches into sugar, which makes them sweeter and more flavorful. It’s not the end of the world to use fresh bananas to make banana bread, but the end result makes a difference in the flavour.

Banana bread is one of the most versatile baked goods as it has many, many different variations. This recipe showcases the use of pecans, but other ingredients such as walnuts, almonds, raisins, chocolate chips and even fruits are commonly found in different banana bread recipes.

There are many stories and rumors when it comes to the origin of banana bread. Some speculated that banana bread first made its appearance in the 1870s in the United States. Others believed that the banana bread was first introduced upon the availability of baking powder in the 1930s. Some even suggested that the banana bread was simply a by-product during the 1929 Great Depression as the recipe was improvised to make use of overripe bananas.

Regardless of the true origin of the recipe, banana bread has made their way into the world of bakery and has become one of the staple treats in bakery stores. The simplicity of the recipe makes it one of the easiest recipes for beginner bakers to get their hands on.

For the full recipe, please visit youtube.com/watch?v=CfKFiBhqP5U