Although the recipe is simple, it can still easily go wrong. Here are three tips for baking moist and beautiful banana bread.
Get the recipe: banana bread
No surprise here. The most important element in making great banana bread is the banana itself. It is important that it is very ripe. It’s way beyond what most people would want to eat with their hands. This means that the skin will be more black than yellow, if not completely black. This indicates that the fruit is wonderfully sweet, soft and fragrant. In addition to the sugar content, less ripe bananas add less water to the dough, which can result in dry, dry bread.
You can bake delicious banana bread with just banana flavor, but you can also take it to the next level by adding your favorite extracts and spices. Vanilla extract is commonly added, but other options include almond for a nutty flavor, chocolate for cocoa lovers around the world, and coconut for a tropical feel, just to name a few.
When it comes to spices, I love the combination of cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves, but any warming spices like allspice, nutmeg, ginger, or star anise will work just as well. Or go beyond traditional baking spices with your favorite ground pepper. Your spice cabinet is your oyster.
For extra flavor, fun, and texture, mix chocolate, nuts, or seeds into the dough. However, if you use all of these options, it’s best to keep them in check so that the add-ins don’t overpower the banana flavor, which should be the star.
The final key to keeping banana bread moist is to avoid baking it for too long. Generally, it is a good practice to start checking baking recipes 10-20% earlier than the recipe calls for doneness. why? Every oven is different, and some ovens run hotter than others. The times listed in the recipe are experienced by the recipe developer and provided as a guide at home, but audio and visual cues are all that matters and should be final. Decide when the food will be removed from the oven. (To help you get used to it, the accompanying recipe lists a baking time of 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, but I’ve always had to bake on the longer end of that range.)
Get the recipe: banana bread