Sweets and drinksBaked GoodsEurope and North America60 to 70 minutes baking, 30 minutes cooling
Banana bread lives or dies on how ripe the bananas are. The riper they get, the deeper the aroma and the moister the crumb. A good loaf is soft and damp inside with a crack running naturally across the top, and it still tastes good once cool.
The hardest part is the mixing, because an overworked batter bakes up tough and dense. Mash the bananas with a fork. A blender turns them into a sticky paste and weighs the loaf down. Once the dry mix goes in, fold only until the last streaks of white flour disappear, then stop.
This batch weighs about 655g, at roughly 285 calories per 100g.
Method
Heat the oven to 165 degrees C and line or grease the loaf tin with butter or parchment paper.
Sift together 147g all purpose flour, 5g baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1.5g salt, then set aside.
Peel 220g ripe bananas and mash them by hand with a spoon or fork.
Put 1.5 eggs into a large bowl and beat, starting slow and building up speed. Add 108g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend a little at a time and beat for 4 to 5 minutes in total, until the mixture is light and airy.
Drop the mixer back to low speed and pour in 70g cooking oil in four additions, taking about 1 minute in total.
Add the mashed banana, 21g unsweetened yogurt and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, then beat until smooth.
Add the dry mix a little at a time and fold with a spatula until no white flour remains. Do not mix any longer than that.
Pour into the tin, lay a few thin banana slices on top and bake for 60 to 70 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.
Cool the loaf in the tin on a rack for 30 minutes, run a knife around the sides, turn it out and let it cool completely.
Tips
A blender makes the banana gluey and the loaf heavy, so stay with a fork.
Bananas with brown spots on the skin bring the clearest sweetness and aroma.
Wrapped well, the loaf keeps for about 3 days at room temperature.
If the top darkens early, cover it with foil and bake out the remaining time.
A warm loaf crumbles under the knife, so let it cool completely before slicing.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend does not brown deeply on its own, so bake 3 to 5 minutes longer or add a touch more cinnamon for a darker top.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.