The Last Banana Bread Recipe You’ll Ever Need

Every week, we spotlight a different food blogger who’s shaking up the blogosphere with tempting recipes and knockout photography. Here, Tara O’Brady of Seven Spoons shares a recipe for hearty, wholesome banana bread that has all manner of good things tucked inside.

All photos courtesy of Tara O’Brady

By Tara O’Brady of Seven Spoons

The world may not need another banana bread recipe, but banana bread is what I’d offer if you were to come over for coffee today. It has roasted bananas, oats, a whole bunch of seeds and nuts, and then a streusel-ish top. And chocolate. There’s chocolate in there. Hopefully you’d be up for a slice.

I took Home Economics in grade seven. We sewed stuffed animals, learned to iron, and baked a coffee cake that was my first introduction to a New York-style crumb. At the end of each day, we’d do the dishes. The teacher taught us to fill a sink with hot, soapy water at the start of class in anticipation; as we dirtied dishes, in they’d go, so when it was time for clean up, they were already soaking. Knives were the exception. Knives went on the counter, set to one side. “The last thing you want,” she’d say, “is to plunge your hand in a sink full of water and find a blade.”

For a long time, I was afraid of the knife in the dishwater. The biggest risks in my life were those that happened too fast for me to consider them first. I didn’t jump in, or leap, or leave things to fate.

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In light of all that, it may seem uncharacteristic of me to encourage you to take this recipe and run with it. Seriously. Take note of the basics and go, go, go from there. As with most breads of its size and ilk, there is a basic ratio of (around) 2 cups flour to 3 or 4 bananas to 2 eggs. Fats, from butter to coconut oil to olive oil, will vary, but not by much. A third of a cup is fairly average. Stay in those parameters, and the possibilities open from there; swap the nuts, add candied ginger or dried fruit. It will be different each time, and almost assuredly very good.

This specific combination came about because of my son, William. He wanted us to make banana bread, and I agreed. As any child in his position would do, Will then proceeded to take best advantage, suggesting we incorporate his favorite things into the loaf. Walnuts, sure. Maple syrup, you betcha. (His grandfather is in the thick of sugaring season.) Cinnamon, alrighty. And because he is five-almost-six years old, chocolate chips. That loaf was gone in a flash.

A few days later, with a craving for more bread and without any ripe bananas around, I baked barely-ripe fruit to replicate that deep, caramel sweetness of almost-past-their-prime specimens. Once allover black and smelling like butterscotch, I mashed them in the bowl with the sugars, oil (olive, as I was going for a peppery, green sharpness), brown sugar, maple syrup, and eggs. Though it is better form to whisk the dry ingredients before adding to the wet, I was trying to save on bowls for cleanup, so unceremoniously dumped the flours et al on top — it’s worth doing the same. When looking for bananas in the freezer, I had come across the last spoonfuls of various seeds stashed in there, and thought to use them up.

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Sour cream followed for even more sharpness and extra moisture, then chocolate, and nuts. My choice of chocolate is regular bar-style, chopped. I like how chunks push and melt into the batter, so there are pockets of richness in the crumb, but you could stick with William and go for chips. They stay in their discreet kiss shapes, firm and vaguely resistant to the tooth.

Since I still had seeds to use, streusel solved the problem. The laziest streusel, really. Simply some more oats, flour, seeds, and spice, dampened with olive oil. One last banana arranged on top, and we were off.

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The bread was not what was expected. I had envisioned it would be more like a dessert, but it was restrained. Cake-ish, but still bread. Moderately sweet, tender, stodgy in that way that we know and love about banana breads. While, yes, it is packed crust to crust with all manner of good things, there’s not enough of one specific thing to pull attention. The streusel comes closest, baking up scraggly and cracked, but it adds more chew than crunch. The walnuts and oats contribute similarly, and the overall impression is surprisingly wholesome and gentle.

It’s a reliable loaf. I am convinced it would get you through Home Ec, and whatever were to follow.

Choco-Oat Nut Roasted Banana Bread
Makes 1 loaf

A note on pans: My original recipe upon which this Frankenstein-ian version is based fills a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. I think this one would squeeze into that size, with an increase in baking time, and you’d probably have to tent it with foil towards the end, too. The trouble is, with all the extras added, I’m not absolutely certain that it would emerge with an impressive crown rather than ooze all over the oven. If you give it a go, please report back with your findings.

To that end, and as the last thing I want to do is lead you astray, the directions below reflect the pan I used this time, a long, narrow one, or the alternate option of a tube pan. When using the latter, start checking for doneness at the 50-minute mark.

For the bread:

Butter for greasing the pan
4 bananas, ripe but firm
½ cup (65 grams) walnut pieces
½ cup (105 grams) dark brown sugar, packed
¼ cup (125 milliliters) pure maple syrup, grade B is my preference, but I’ll take whatever dad has boiled
1/3 cup (80 milliliters) extra-virgin olive oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (105 grams) whole-wheat flour
½ cup (50 grams) rolled oats
3 to 4 tablespoons mixed seeds (I used sunflower, hemp hearts and sesame)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon medium-grained kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
½ cup (120 millilitersl) sour cream or thick, plain yogurt (not nonfat)
4 ounces (115 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped

For the topping:

1 tablespoon rolled oats
2 tablespoons mixed seeds
1 ½ tablespoons flour (all-purpose or whole wheat)
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil (plus extra if needed)
1 banana, ripe but firm

Preheat an oven to 350°/175°C with a rack in the lower third. Grease a 14-by-4.5-inch loaf pan with butter. Line with parchment paper, with long sides overhanging. Butter the parchment. Alternatively, butter and flour a standard tube pan, knocking out excess.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then place the 4 bananas, whole and unpeeled, on top. Bake until the skin is deeply roasted on both sides, but not split, 20 to 30 minutes. Flip once during baking, and add the walnuts to the tray for the last 10 minutes of roasting (if there’s a lot of liquid from the bananas, give the nuts their own tray). Remove the bananas to a bowl to collect their juices. Chop the walnuts and set aside.

Once the bananas have cooled a little, remove the peels and leave the fruit in the bowl. Mash to a pulp with the brown sugar. Beat in the maple syrup, olive oil, followed by the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Stir in the vanilla. Sprinkle the flours, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger on top of the wet ingredients. Fold to almost combine, then spoon in the sour cream. Give a few more turns, then gently incorporate the chocolate and walnuts. Scape the batter into the prepared pan.

In a small bowl, stir together the oats, seeds, flour, cinnamon, and olive oil until it clumps. Honestly, I do this with my fingers, and scrunch it together. Peel and slice the banana into thirds lengthwise. Scatter the streusel over the batter, then arrange the banana on top. Bake in the preheated oven until the bread is golden and puffed, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean of batter (chocolate doesn’t count), 60 to 70 minutes. Cool on a wire rack 10 minutes, then use the parchment to lift the loaf onto the rack to cool completely.

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