“One of the biggest myths is that people slip on banana peels as often in real life as they do on Tv!”.
You know you are a baker when you are glad to see spots on your bananas ! One of the best ways to put those ripening fruit to good and delicious use is to make some.. ..What else but good ol’ banana bread ! I say good ol’ but the truth is that I first heard of banana bread only around two years back when I started baking and stalking baking blogs. Then I saw it making its way into bakery displays and dessert counters.
In fact , I m not sure why it’s called banana bread ? It’s more like a cake made in a loaf pan. Every baker worth their salt probably has a favourite recipe. This is one , I ve kind of made my own after trying several. I don’t know if it’s the best , but it’s pretty darn good ! Moist and scrumptious.
I have added in cinnamon raisin into the basic bread because the husband is fond of raisins. And I am so not ! That’s just optional but I just find that the spice adds a little something extra to the bread instead of it being all sweet .
The bread has a wonderful aroma as it bakes and even when you have a slice after a day. It’s a moist , sweet bread and the edges are to die for. The flavour of bananas is robust . And the bits of the cinnamon n sugars when you get it , takes it to another level. Was a little disappointed that a lot of the raisins sank to the bottom . But the ones who like raisins loved it in the bread. Others, me included, just picked them out !
UPDATE (15.04.2020): I updated the pictures of the bread just because i made it again. While the rest of the recipe (including the pan!) remains the same , I chose to just fold in some raisins at the end instead of doing a cinnamon raisin swirl !
And if you like baking with bananas , you might want to check out my eggless banana bread , wholewheat banana chocolate muffins , my banana and coconut cake or my banana layer cake !
Cinnamon raisin banana bread
Ingredients
- 186 gras or 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 200 grams or 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Eggs at room temperature
- 1/4 cup or 60 ml milk
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 to 1 cup or 2-3 medium bananas mashed
- 1 tsp butter (optional)
- 2 tbsp sugar granulated (optional)
- 2 tbsp brown sugar (optional)
- 1 - 2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
- 2 tbsp raisins (optional)
- 1/4 cup or 60 ml oil
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 160 C . Grease and dust your loaf pan with flour. Mash up the bananas. You could also puree it in a mixer. I just like the extra flavour of bits of banana in the bread.
- If you are using the cinnamon raisin , melt the butter and mix in the sugars until thick. Add the raisins .
- Sift together all the dry ingredients like flour , salt , soda and sugar in a large bowl .
- Whisk together the honey , eggs , oil , milk , vanilla and bananas in another bowl until smooth.
- Add the liquid mixture to the dry and whisk until smooth.
- Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Now add the cinnamon and raisin. You could swirl it in or just add it on top . Or alternate part batter and mixture as I have done.
- Bake for an hour to an hour ten mins at 160 C until toothpick inserted in centre comes out with few moist crumbs. Cool in pan 5 mins and then on a rack until completely cool.
Notes
- Adjust the cinnamon and raisins according to your tastes. Or omit all together.
- The bread keeps well wrapped at room temperature for three days
Measurement of oil is not mentioned. Can u please add that also
Thanks
Oops ! have added it Preethy! Thanks for pointing it out !
Hey Dea can I make a Cake out of it. I don’t have a bread loaf pan. What will be the cooking time and temperature for a aluminium pan?
Hi Shweta… yes, you can. An ideal substitute would be a 8 x 8 inch square pan , which would take about 35 mins. Same with a 9 inch round pan. Start checking at 35 minutes. For smaller round pans ( 7 inch or lesser) , you can either half the recipe . Or bake the full recipe at 160 C for 45 mins or so.Make sure your pan is tall enough. Or you can divide the batter between 2 pans if you don’t have large or tall pans. Hope this helps !
Can I make this recipe into cupcakes? For that matter, can I make any cake recipe into cupcakes, in general?
You can Anjali.. but they will be more like muffins. You can turn most cakes into cupcakes , but have to adjust the baking time accordingly..
Thats great to know Vani !! Thanks for trying !!
Akshatha… I tried this tweaking a bit.. used wheat instead of apf..nd no sugar .. it was yummyyy…
Ha ha !!! I think your 3 year old also paid this recipe the best compliment ! Do keep trying and sharing Jaya!
Thanks so much. It was done in about 45-50 minutes.. I was a little unsure so left it in for an extra 5 minutes 🙂 Turned out awesome. I know my bakes are good when my 3 year finishes a slice without a break 🙂
Hi Jaya… You will have a smaller loaf and shorter baking time (check from 40 minutes or so).. you could try making one and half the quantities.
Thank u so much Moushumi ! I have baked the bread in the convection mode of a microwave oven itself!!!
Looks delish . Can the bread be baked in a microwave which has convection mode?
My loaf pan is 11 * 5 Inches – Will the same proportion work?
Yes … it will !