Spiced Banana Bread

• active time: 15 minutes
• total time: 75-85 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups (240g) all purpose flour

1½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp ground clove (optional)

1½ cups (360g) mashed bananas

½ cup (110g) packed light brown sugar

¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar

2 large eggs at room temperature

¼ cup (60ml, 50g) neutral oil

⅓ cup (80ml, 80g) plain yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Line loaf pan with a parchment paper sling leaving an overhang and/or grease with butter/oil/baking spray.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Place bananas in a large mixing bowl and mash using a fork or beat with a hand mixer. Texture should be like a purée. Add in both sugars and whisk/beat until it looks glossy and syrupy. Add in eggs, oil, vanilla extract and yogurt, then whisk/beat until fully incorporated. Add dry ingredients all at once and fold them in using a spatula until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan, and tap on counter a few times to smooth it out. Optionally, sprinkle raw brown sugar (turbinado, demerara) on top for a sugar crisp top.

Bake for 55-65 minutes, until the top is cracked and a deep golden brown. Check with a skewer, if it comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs take out pan from the oven.

Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, preferably on a wire rack. Turn out the banana bread onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Cutting into it before it cools will release steam and dry it out.

Notes

Bananas: Mash with a fork or beat with hand mixer until smooth. Don’t leave any unmashed lumps—they’ll sink and look grey/gummy after baking. Aim for purée texture. The ideal “banana bread banana” is very overripe, with a peel that’s more brown than yellow.

Sugar: Use all brown, all white, or any mix. More brown sugar = darker, denser loaf with moist top. More white sugar = lighter, fluffier loaf with crisp top.

Fat: Use oil, not butter, for a loaf that stays perfectly moist for days. Butter will lead to a dry, coarse loaf. The banana flavor is rich enough without butter.

Source: Combination of moonjelly33 from Reddit and Scientifically Sweet banana bread recipes.