Bananas are always a point of discussion in our family. More specific, what color they should have when you eat them.
For me, there is a clear ‘golden spot’ (did you see the hint here?).
For my taste buds, bananas that still have definite green spots/sides are not really good to eat. They lack taste and sweetness, and the substance is very mealy/floury.
Nicely ripe bananas are more golden yellow and have some small brown spots here and there. They have developed that sweet banana taste and have a perfect texture.
Unfortunately, those perfect bananas can quickly turn into overripe bananas: soft, with large brown spots and an almost acidic taste. And then nobody in the family will touch them anymore.
The solution: banana bread! A perfect way to use up even those unappetizing ‘over the top’ bananas.
Do you have some ‘over the top’ bananas lying around? This recipe is a great way to use up those bananas that have gone brown and soft.
It’s also very easy to make – it can just be whisked together by hand. So you don’t need to take out the kitchen machine or even the mixer.
The challenge with banana bread is that it easily can taste a bit bland. This recipe solves that problem with the uses of spices, vanilla sugar and a dash of lemon juice.
This bread might ‘sink’ a bit after baking and the bottom might be a bit squidgy. Don’t worry, that’s just how it should be.
It tastes great served in generous slices, with a cup of tea or coffee. It’s also perfect to put in a lunch box or wrapped up for a hike.
To up the deliciousness, serve with salted butter on top.
Ingredients
3 bananas (ripe to very ripe – see Notes, below)
2 eggs (size Medium or Large)
250 gram plain white flour or fine spelt flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 deciliter oil (neutral plant oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed)
150 grams white sugar
3 teaspoons of vanilla sugar (or 2 sachets of vanilla sugar)
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ‘cookie spices’ (seen Notes, below)
A pinch of salt
Lemon juice of about 1/2 lemon (a bit less if the lemon is very large)
Optional: around 75 grams of walnuts, coarsely chopped
Equipment: A cake form / bread form of about 30 centimeters length / about 2 liters capacity.
Instructions
Heat the oven to 180°C (regular upper and lower heat, not fan-forced).
Butter a 30 cm cake form / bread form (around 2 liter capacity).
Put the 3 bananas in a mixing bowl and mash them (use a fork, a potato masher or even a sturdy whisk).
Add 1 deciliter of vegetable oil, 2 eggs, 150 grams sugar and 3 teaspoons (or 2 sachets) of vanilla sugar, plus a pinch of salt and the juice of about half a lemon. Whisk everything together until the sugar has dissolved. It’s fine if there still are some whole bits of banana in the mixture.
Measure 250 grams of white flour (or fine spelt flour) in a large measuring jug. To the flour in the jug, add 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of ginger cookie spices (see Notes, below). Blend it all with a spoon.
Tip the flour mixture into the banana mixture. Add the walnut pieces (if using). Mix all together with a large spoon until no pockets of flour can be seen anymore.
Fill the dough mixture into the cake form.
Bake for approx. 1 hour.
Let the banana bread cool in the form til only lukewarm. Loosen it carefully from the sides of the form, and tip over on a cooling rack.
Let cool completely and serve in generous slices.
Notes
Bananas can vary enormously in size. This recipe will work with 3 medium-sized bananas, but also if they are bigger or smaller. If you have a whole bunch of bananas that have ‘gone too far’, you can also take the best bits of several bananas and just guess how many pieces would make up about 3 bananas.
If you have more bananas lying around, you can also peel and halve one and put it on top of the dough before baking.
The cookie spice used here is something called ‘Cookie Spice’. It will work fine with anything similar, such as Gingerbread spice, Lebkuchen spice, Speculaas spice and so on. If you cannot find anything similar, increase the ground cinnamon to 3 teaspoons in total.
Nydelig kake!!! 🤩