Banana Bread is having a moment. It was the most searched-for recipe online in America in 2020 according to CNBC.
This hot weather has done a number on my bananas; their skins were black and their flesh was mushy. In other words, they were at their perfect sweetness! Clearly, it was time to make Banana Bread.
While I have a lot of great Banana Bread recipes, I’m always looking for the ultimate recipe. Someone on one of the food bulletin boards I read was singing the praise of this Dorie Greenspan recipe and I decided to give it a try. The original recipe is from Greenspan’s Baking With Dorie cookbook. The cookbook is available at your local bookstore or on Amazon here.
This recipe makes a lot of bread (a 9 inch by 13 inch baking pan full!), so be ready to share it with guests or to freeze some. Or, of course, there could be a total Banana Bread binge on your part. No one’s judging.
(This is not Blue Cayenne’s first rodeo with Banana Bread, either. Click on this link and you will find a number of wonderful variations on this treat: Banana Bread.)
Here is the Greenspan recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen.
Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
- 2/3 C. whole wheat flour
- 2 t. instant espresso powder
- 1 1/2 t. baking soda
- 3/4 t. baking powder
- 1/2 t. fine sea salt
- 1 C. sugar
- 3/4 C. packed brown sugar
- 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1/2 C. flavorless oil (I used grapeseed)
- 3 large eggs (room temperature)
- 2 t. vanilla extract
- 4 very ripe bananas (cut into chunks)
- 2/3 C. buttermilk
- 3/4 C. oats (not instant)
- 1/2 C. chopped walnuts
- 1/3 C. raisins
- 1/4 C. flaxseeds or flaxseed meal (I used meal)
Directions
- Step 1 Prepare a 9 inch by 13 inch baking pan but buttering it or spraying it with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment.
- Step 2 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Step 3 Whisk flours, coffee, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
- Step 4 Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment. Cream the mixture at medium speed for about two minutes.
- Step 5 Add oil and continue beating for another two minutes.
- Step 6 Add eggs one by one. Beat for about a minute between the addition of each egg.
- Step 7 Set the mixer to medium speed and add in the banana chunks and the vanilla. Beat until you have a fluffy mixture. Small pieces of banana are OK in the batter.
- Step 8 Turn off the mixer and add half the flour mixture. Turn the mixer back on and mix at low speed just until flour is incorporated. Add the buttermilk and mix briefly. Turn off the mixer and add the remainder of the flour mixture. Turn mixer back on and mix just until the flour is incorporated.
- Step 9 Add the oats at a low speed.
- Step 10 Add the nuts at low speed.
- Step 11 Add the raisins at low speed.
- Step 12 Add the flax at a low speed.
- Step 13 Scrape the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. The top of the banana bread should be a deep golden brown when your bread is finished. You can use a toothpick to check for doneness.
- Step 14 Remove pan from oven and let the bread cool in the pan and on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar if you want.
