Moist Banana Bread
Banana bread that's deliciously moist and chock full with plump raisins, toasted nuts, and loads of mashed bananas.
Ingredients
- 100 g raisins see Note1
- 5 tbsp rum see Note2
- 175 g all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 125 g unsalted butter melted
- 125 g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs each weighing 56 - 60 grams / 2 - 2.25 ounces with shell
- 300 g mashed bananas without peel
- 60 g chopped walnuts see Note3
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (325 °F). Grease and line a loaf pan (8.5" x 4.5" x 2.75" / approx. 21 x 11 x 6 cm) with baking paper. Note: A standard loaf pan (9" x 5" x 3"/approx. 23 x 13 x 8") can also be used - the banana bread will bake up shorter and wider.
- Place the raisins and rum in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat, cover, and let sit for 45 minutes or an hour, or until the raisins have absorbed most of the liquid. Drain (reserve the liquid if desired) and set aside.
- Stir or sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medim-sized mixing bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar and beat with a hand whisk until blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the mashed bananas, vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon or the reserved rum (optional).
- Next, with a wooden spoon, stir in drained raisins and toasted nuts. Fold in the flour mixture, a third at a time, combining well after each addition. Do not over-mix. Stop once the flour is moistened - the batter should be mostly smooth but a bit lumpy.
- Scoop out into the prepared loaf pan . Bake in the middle of the oven for 55 - 75 minutes. Test with a toothpick or cake skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf. If the toothpick or skewer comes out with sticky bits of batter, continue baking and check every 5 minutes until it is done.
- Let the banana bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Let it cool before slicing as desired - best enjoyed warm while the crust still has a bit of crisp and crunch to it.
Notes
- 1. Raisins. You can use your favourite dried fruit like craisins, sultanas, cranberries, apricots, dates, or prunes. Be sure to cut larger pieces of dried fruit like prunes or dates into smaller chunks, roughly the size of raisins or sultanas, to prevent them sinking to the bottom of the batter.
- 2. Rum (optional). Rum is used here to rehydrate the dried raisins. By simmering the raisins in the rum and then letting it sit to soak up the liquid, this ensures they don't absorb moisture from the banana bread itself, allowing the banana bread to bake up moist. Instead of rum, brandy, amaretto, bourbon, and banana liquers like Bols Creme de Banane, also work very well in banana bread. For alcohol-free options, you can use black tea (adds a depth of flavour), apple, orange or lemon juice.
- 3. Walnuts (optional). Feel free to use whatever nuts are in your pantry - pecans, almonds, macadamias, or brazill nuts. Before adding in the nuts, roughly chop them into smaller pieces, roughly the same size as the raisins, as larger pieces tend to sink. Alternatively, you can sub out the nuts with these tasty alternatives.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1g, Calories: 274kcal, Carbohydrates: 35g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.3g, Cholesterol: 50mg, Sodium: 231mg, Potassium: 210mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 14g, Vitamin A: 317IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 57mg, Iron: 1mg
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