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Banana bread with walnuts and cinnamon

Soft banana bread made with very ripe bananas, cinnamon and walnuts. The recipe counts in slices: 8 slices is one loaf from a 25 cm tin.

  • Easy
  • Little chopping
  • Vegetarian
  • Oven

Recipe by Lydia Louter · Cuisine: American

Prep
15 min
Cook
55 min
Total
70 min
A banana bread loaf on a wooden board with a few slices cut off and pieces of walnut visible inside, on a wooden table.

Method

  1. Step 1: Heat the oven to 175 °C (155 °C fan). Line a 25 cm loaf tin with baking paper.

  2. Step 2: Melt 80 g butter in a small pan over a low heat and leave it to cool for a few minutes.

  3. Step 3: Mash 3 bananas with a fork in a large bowl into a rough purée with a few lumps left. Stir in the butter, 120 g light brown sugar and 2 eggs.

  4. Step 4: In a second bowl, mix 240 g plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda, ½ tsp salt and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. Fold this into the banana mixture in three goes, just until no dry flour is left. Don't mix for longer than that, or the bread turns tough. Fold in 60 g walnuts last.

  5. Step 5: Spoon the batter into the tin and level the top. Bake in the middle of the oven for 50 minutes. Push a skewer into the centre: if it comes out clean, the bread is done. If there's still batter on it, bake for 5 more minutes and test again.

    Timer 50 min

  6. Step 6: Leave the bread in the tin for 10 minutes. Lift it out with the baking paper and let it cool further on a wire rack. Wait until it is only just warm before slicing, so the crumb stays intact.

    Timer 10 min

About this recipe

Banana bread is a recipe for bananas that have turned too brown to eat on their own. The darker the skin, the sweeter and softer the banana, and this bread relies on that: there's no milk or cream in it, the moisture comes from the bananas. Don't mash them too fine, so you keep some lumps in the bread.

next time a handful of dark chocolate chunks folded in

Tips

  • No very ripe bananas? Peel and freeze them as soon as they turn brown. Once thawed they're soft and sweet enough, and use the liquid they release too.
  • If the top browns before the bread is done, lay a piece of foil loosely over the tin after about 35 minutes.
  • Making 16 slices? Bake two tins side by side rather than one big one: a thick loaf gets too dark on the outside before it is cooked through.

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