Banana bread recipe | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why are older bananas better for banana bread? ›

Ripe bananas are not only softer and easier to mash and blend into a batter, but they are also sweeter, which is why baking recipes specifically call for ripe bananas in ingredient lists. As the bananas ripen, the fruit converts starches to sugars, making them sweeter and more flavorful.

Fight the urge to use more banana than called for in your recipe. Using too much banana could make your bread heavy and damp in the center, causing it to appear undercooked and unappealing. If you have bananas leftover, you can always freeze them for later use.

Using too much flour makes for an extra crumbly bread.

If you're tapping your measuring cup to level out flour as you measure, or you're pushing down the piled-up powder, you'll end up using too much of it. I packed my flour for this loaf, and what I got was a crumbly cake with a dry crust all around.

As tempting as it may be to dump all those overripe bananas into your batter, four medium-sized bananas are typically the most that a single loaf of banana bread can accommodate — any more and you're likely looking at a loaf that's going to be dense and heavy rather than soft and moist in the middle.

Here's the secret: overripe bananas don't necessarily mean too-ripe bananas for banana bread. It really comes down to personal preference. Those brown-speckled, mostly yellow bananas are still ripe and will bake into a great loaf.

Using too much baking soda or baking powder can really mess up a recipe, causing it to rise uncontrollably and taste terrible.

If you're planning to eat your banana bread within three to four days, it can be left out at room temperature. To keep it fresh, place a paper towel in the bottom of an airtight container. Place the loaf of banana bread on top, add another paper towel, and put the lid on the container.

Using too many eggs

The result could be a banana bread that is dense, spongy, and rubbery. Given that this baked treat is already a hefty product, you will want to avoid these unappetizing textures. According to The Cake Blog, over doing it on the egg addition can also affect flavor.

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

Let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely. If it is not cooled properly, there will be trapped moisture, which can make your banana bread soggy and can also invite bacteria growth, she says.

Why is the middle of my banana bread mushy? ›

Excess moisture (when compared to the recipe's dry ingredients) means a greater potential for banana bread to sink in the middle. Recipes that provide you with the exact amount of mashed bananas by measuring cup (e.g. 1 ½ cups of mashed bananas) or by weight (e.g. grams) tend to have fewer problems. Why?

It is pretty simple to salvage an undercooked bread and create a decent loaf. Heat the oven to 350 F, return the bread to the oven, and bake for another 10 to 20 minutes. This will work even if the loaf has cooled, which is similar to par-baking bread.

Fill the pan until it's two-thirds full, and if there is any remaining batter, fill up a muffin tin. This ensures you get a beautifully risen loaf instead of a potentially flat loaf in a 9×5. Now that you know the importance of pan sizes, it's time to make a loaf of the Best-Ever Banana Bread!

Let the bananas ripen (and overripen) at room temperature. Depending on the weather, this could take a few days, or up to a week. The best bananas for banana bread aren't yellow; they're black. Or they're at least streaked with black/brown, with just the barest hint of green at the stem.

As bananas ripen, their natural starches convert into sugars, which is why some baking recipes (like banana bread) call for overripe bananas—they add sweetness, moisture, and more concentrated banana flavor to baked goods.

It should be stored in a cool, dry place that isn't in direct sunlight. Once it is completely cool, Roszkowski says to keep banana bread fresh by placing it in an airtight container, wrapping it in plastic wrap, or even slicing it and wrapping it in plastic wrap.