More Banana Bread!

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I made some more banana bread, but this time I wrapped it up and froze it almost immediately after baking (and photographing) to leave some baked goods for Cole while I am in Boston helping Lauren & Brendan out with baby April (more to come on that soon!).

One thing I did differently this time was really whip those whole eggs into a pale yellow, pillowy foam BEFORE adding sugar.  I think it helped get more volume into the batter, which made the bread even better than last time.

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Love this stuff.  Am I so wrong to think it's healthy, too?

 

Flour’s Famous Banana Bread

(Adapted from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe, recipe also posted here on Food Network)

INGREDIENTS

1 ⅔ cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (230 grams) sugar

2 eggs

½ cup (100 grams) canola oil

3 ½ medium bananas, very ripe, mashed (about 340 grams)

2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup (75 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped

DIRECTIONS

  1. Set oven to 325 degrees F. Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper.

  2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

  3. In your stand-up mixer bowl, whip eggs for a few minutes on medium speed until they look like they have about doubled in volume. Gradually add sugar and continue whipping a couple more minutes until volume increases a bit more and the mixture is light, fluffy, and a pale yellow color.

  4. Turn the speed down to low, slowly drizzle in oil giving your fluffy egg mixture adequate time to take it all in. Add your mashed bananas, creme fraiche, and vanilla. Mix until just combined.

  5. Gently fold in dry ingredients and nuts.

  6. Pour prepared batter into a lined loaf pan and bake for about 1 to 1 ¼ hours.

  7. Let cool on wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Loosen from pan with a pairing knife and shimmy it on out to finish cooling. (If you can wait that long.)

  8. It can be stored tightly wrapped in plastic at room temp for up to 3 days. Or you can freeze it and make it last up to 2 weeks. Just take it out of the freezer the night before to give it time to thaw.