Now, the series wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t feature a banana bread. Banana pairs delectably with many ingredients: cinnamon, walnut, raisins, chocolate, and dates to name a few obvious ones. Not so common but exceptional: maple and spice.
A moist and delicious classic banana bread is the perfect comfort food you want whether its raining and you want to feel warm, a pick me up at the end of a hard day, or just a slice slathered with butter for breakfast to make it a perfect beginning to a wonderful week ahead.
Banana bread is highly adaptable. I will share several variations of banana bread with you as we go along, and we start today with one containing a hint of spice and maple in it.
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon mace
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 3 bananas, mashed
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¼ cup milk
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Lightly grease and flour a 9×5″ loaf pan with butter.
- In a medium bowl, combine together all purpose flour, whole wheat flour baking soda, cinnamon and mace. Set aside.
- Mash bananas and maple syrup together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together brown sugar, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
- Add in the banana mixture and alternately incorporate the flour mixture and milk until everything is combined and smooth.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Transfer to a wire rack and let it cool down for 20 minutes before serving.
This bread has a unique flavor: not very sweet, delicious when served with butter; also soft, tender and with a moist crumb. You can add 1/2 cup pecans if you’d like. I used part whole wheat flour and a dash of cinnamon and mace in the recipe.
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