Everyone needs a basic banana bread recipe to fill the house with an irresistible aroma. Particularly when trying to sell the house. My Mother always told me to bake a cake when selling a place, and make sure it had cinnamon and spice in it. She said it made a house smell like home, made it inviting.
Coming back to the perfect banana bread now, it should be moist, rich and studded with nuts. Is there a secret to scrumptious banana bread – beyond bananas of course? Squash. No really. Mashed squash adds depth, a beautiful golden colour and contrary to what one might think, it doesn’t taste in the finished loaf. It also allows for less oil to a loaf without compromising on crumb and quality. Enough talk, more recipe!
Yield: 1 loaf
What you need:
- 1 cup mashed banana, the riper and blacker the better
- 1 cup well-cooked and mashed winter squash or pumpkin (if desired, it can be substituted with an equal amount of mashed sweet potato or 3/4 cup more mashed banana or applesauce)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup sunflower oil
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
What you do:
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Grease and flour a 9″x5″ loaf pan, or use a silicone pan to make life easier.
- In a small bowl, beat together the banana, squash, maple syrup and oil until smooth.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, spices, salt, baking powder and soda.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to mix. You just want the everything even, make sure not to over-mix.
- Fold in the nuts.
- Pour everything into the loaf pan and bake 1 hour, or as required for a tester to come out clean.
- Cool on a rack before removing from the pan and slicing.
Variation:
- Instead of using a loaf pan, use muffin tins and bake the muffins 22-25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
