Banana Bread 4 Ways
Phew! I baked four banana breads yesterday for fun. I’ve been wanting to post a banana bread recipe as I feel that it is a must have on every food blog. I thought of different ways to mix up the classic banana bread recipe and just went with it. Banana bread is one dish you can play around with, to make different variations. I ended up making four of them and I was so happy with the way they came out. I even made some mix-and-match muffins with the leftover batter. Our apartment was filled with the delicious smell of banana bread goodness throughout the day.
People mostly think of making banana bread when they have ripe bananas that need to be consumed asap. I do the opposite. I buy a lot of banana and wait for them to ripen just to bake banana bread. I had most other ingredients in stock and this was a great way to use them up. After baking and slicing them, we ended up with six large Tupperwares of banana bread. Suraj was in a hurry to give some away to our friends so we didn’t end up eating them all. So much sharing and caring (lol). I won’t blame him, I mean who can stop eating after just one slice? I kept having slice after slice, every time stepped in the kitchen. Some of our friends drove an hour to get some after I put a post on instagram that they’re up for grabs.
Banana bread has been a popular recipe for many years. Most families have their own version of banana bread. The love for this bread could be because it is a very easy recipe with very flavorful results. You can basically mix everything in a bowl. This doesn’t require a lot of sugar because of the sweetness from the ripe banana. You can use this recipe to make banana muffins as well. All four versions listed below have the same base recipe except the one with walnuts and spices.
Banana bread with chocolate & espresso
A simple and rich chocolate banana bread!
Calling all the chocolate lovers to try this dark chocolate and espresso banana bread. Espresso is a secret ingredient that you cannot taste but will definitely enhance the rich chocolate flavor. You can skip the espresso if you want, but I highly recommend it as it will complement and intensify the dark chocolate flavor.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9×5-in loaf pan.
Banana bread batter:
Banana bread batter:
a. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork and add the butter, brown sugar, and espresso powder. Stir until combined and then add the eggs and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.
b. Add the dry ingredients; flour cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined and fold in 1 cup of the chocolate chips.
Garnish:
Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on top of the batter and place the cut bananas.
Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9×5-in loaf pan.
Banana bread batter:
Banana bread batter:
a. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork and add the butter, brown sugar, and espresso powder. Stir until combined and then add the eggs and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.
b. Add the dry ingredients; flour cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined and fold in 1 cup of the chocolate chips.
Garnish:
Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on top of the batter and place the cut bananas.
Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
Banana bread with walnuts and spices
This a moist and delicious banana bread with evaporated milk glaze!
This is a recipe I got from our friend David’s sister, Penny. She is an amazing cook. When we used to live in Akron during the time that Suraj and I were in grad school, our dear friend David who lived in the same building used to spoil us with the food that his sister Penny had made for him. She is one of the best cooks that I know and an amazing human being. We were lucky to have spent Thanksgiving dinner with Penny’s family a few years. Like I mentioned about families having their own version of banana bread, this is Penny’s version of banana bread and my personal favorite, especially her glaze. I highly recommend trying this out.
Preheat the oven at 350 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 9×5-in loaf pan with a nonstick spray.
Banana bread batter:
a. In a large bowl, add mashed bananas, butter, sugar and half of the buttermilk. Stir until combined and then add the eggs and rest of the buttermilk. Stir until smooth.
b. Add the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon together and mix well. Stir until just combined and fold in the nuts.
Garnish:
Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan, sprinkle nuts on top for garnishing.
Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
Glaze:
Prepare the glaze by boiling all the ingredients for the glaze. Stir occasionally. Brush the glaze on the bread when both the bread and glaze are still warm.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven at 350 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 9×5-in loaf pan with a nonstick spray.
Banana bread batter:
a. In a large bowl, add mashed bananas, butter, sugar and half of the buttermilk. Stir until combined and then add the eggs and rest of the buttermilk. Stir until smooth.
b. Add the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon together and mix well. Stir until just combined and fold in the nuts.
Garnish:
Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan, sprinkle nuts on top for garnishing.
Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
Glaze:
Prepare the glaze by boiling all the ingredients for the glaze. Stir occasionally. Brush the glaze on the bread when both the bread and glaze are still warm.
Banana bread with cream cheese swirls
A moist and simple banana bread with cream cheese swirls
Just thinking about the combination of banana and cream cheese in a bread will give you an idea how amazing this would feel in your mouth. Don’t you already feel like making some? I thought of this combination because I love baked goods with cream cheese. My friend Megha used to bake brownies with cream cheese for me when I was pregnant and I loved them so much that I didn’t share any with Suraj. I tried to do swirls in the bread but I’m not sure if it came out well. Do let me know if you have any tips for adding swirls. I also sprinkled it with a mix of white and dark chocolate which is purely optional.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 9×5-in loaf pan with a nonstick spray.
Banana bread batter:
a. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork and add the butter and brown sugar. Add beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.
b. Add the dry ingredients; flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined.
Cream cheese spread:
a. In another bowl, beat together all the ingredients for the cream cheese filling.
b. Pour half of the banana bread batter in the loaf pan. Top the batter with half of the cream cheese filling -- one dollop at a time. Top with remaining batter. Top with the remaining cream cheese filling one dollop at a time. Insert a butter knife into the batter and run through the batter making swirls.
Garnish:
Sprinkle with chocolates chips on top of the batter .
Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 9×5-in loaf pan with a nonstick spray.
Banana bread batter:
a. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork and add the butter and brown sugar. Add beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.
b. Add the dry ingredients; flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined.
Cream cheese spread:
a. In another bowl, beat together all the ingredients for the cream cheese filling.
b. Pour half of the banana bread batter in the loaf pan. Top the batter with half of the cream cheese filling -- one dollop at a time. Top with remaining batter. Top with the remaining cream cheese filling one dollop at a time. Insert a butter knife into the batter and run through the batter making swirls.
Garnish:
Sprinkle with chocolates chips on top of the batter .
Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Drunken banana bread
This is a chocolate banana bread with hint of spice from Lindt n Kahlua!
Check out this moist, boozy banana bread with a hint of spice which I call “death by chocolate” recipe. If you are thinking about ways to upgrade the double chocolate banana bread, then I dare you to try this spiked banana bread recipe. One bite of this banana bread with the Kahlua infused glaze and you’ll feel like you’ve died and gone to chocolate-banana heaven. You can simply skip the glaze for a non-spiked version that is safe to serve to kids. Do let me know how you liked the hint of spice from the Lindt Excellence Chili Dark Chocolate Bar.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 9×5-in loaf pan with a nonstick spray.
Banana bread batter:
a. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork and add the butter, brown sugar and espresso powder. Stir until combined, then add the eggs and vanilla extract. Stir again until smooth.
b. Add the dry ingredients; flour cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined and fold in 1 cup of the chocolate chips.
Garnish:
Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate on top of the bread.
Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
Glaze:
While the bread is cooling, whisk the powdered sugar and Kahlua together until very smooth. Place the bread on a cooling rack, poke small holes on the top face of the bread with a wooden skewer and pour the glaze over the bread. Let the glaze dry before cutting and serving.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 9×5-in loaf pan with a nonstick spray.
Banana bread batter:
a. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork and add the butter, brown sugar and espresso powder. Stir until combined, then add the eggs and vanilla extract. Stir again until smooth.
b. Add the dry ingredients; flour cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined and fold in 1 cup of the chocolate chips.
Garnish:
Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate on top of the bread.
Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
Glaze:
While the bread is cooling, whisk the powdered sugar and Kahlua together until very smooth. Place the bread on a cooling rack, poke small holes on the top face of the bread with a wooden skewer and pour the glaze over the bread. Let the glaze dry before cutting and serving.
I hope that you will try out all these banana bread variations. I’m also posting separate recipes so you can easily access them through the recipe archives later!
Thank you for trying this with me!
I’d love to see it on Instagram! Just use the hashtag #ttwmblog and I’ll be sure to find it.