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FRONT BURNER: Bananas and spice and everything nice

Banana Spice Bread
Banana Spice Bread

Banana bread gets a bad rap. It's what you make when you forget to eat your bananas. Something we turn to in an effort to avoid throwing once-perfect food away.

This is not that kind of banana bread. This recipe is a reason to buy bananas -- with the intention of letting them ripen until they're just right.

Simply put: This recipe makes the best banana bread I have ever eaten. This recipe lets the bananas shine -- using just enough spice to accentuate and complement their flavor -- and gets its caramely richness from brown sugar and plenty of butter.

Nut lovers will be tempted to toss in a few handfuls of walnuts or pecans, but I urge them to make this recipe as written the first time.

I used bananas that were evenly speckled with brown, but not mushy.

Banana Spice Bread

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

5 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

5 large very ripe bananas, peeled and cut into chunks PLUS 1 ripe banana, peeled and cut lengthwise into thirds, divided use

1 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 tablespoons whole milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves.

Place the chunked bananas in a large bowl and mash until broken down. Add the melted butter, eggs, brown sugar and vanilla and continue to mash until mixture is mostly smooth. Stir in milk.

Sift the dry ingredients into the banana mixture and stir until flour is completely moistened.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Lay the remaining sliced banana across the top. Bake 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Makes about 12 servings.

Recipe adapted from The Malaysian Kitchen: 150 Recipes for Simple Home Cooking by Christina Arokiasamy

Food on 02/21/2018

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