Moist banana bread studded with walnuts and wrapped in a crunchy sugar crust-- It's banana bread at it's finest! (and most decadent)
I have a few recipes for banana bread that I absolutely love. The first being my mom's (which I've yet to gain permission to divulge the recipe of), this Healthy-ish Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, my Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Bread, and last (but certainly not least) this delicious gem!
Why This Recipe Works
It has a high ratio of banana to butter which makes for a very moist bread with a tender crumb and also uses bread flour instead of all-purpose flour that keeps gummy-ness at bay. To top it all off, the pans and tops are coated in sugar that adds sweetness, crunch, and texture.
For Best Results Do this:
- Use VERY ripe bananas. Ripe bananas are sweeter and have more "banana-y" flavor that will add depth and loads of banana flavor to your bread. When I have some overly ripe banana on my counter, I like to peel and place them in a zip-top freezer bag. The bananas store well in the freezer for a few months and you'll always have some on hand for baking!
- Use ROOM temperature ingredients. Adding cold eggs or bananas to warm butter makes the butter clump and your batter won't be as smooth.
- Don't over mix! The key to moist and tender banana bread is to keep the mixing as minimal as possible! You want to stir it by hand, just long enough to combine the dry ingredients into the wet, but no longer. The batter will be lumpy and chunky and that's ok!
- Toast your walnuts. Toasting the walnuts slightly before adding to the batter adds an extra layer of nuttiness to the bread and helps the walnuts stay crunchy during baking.
How to dust baking pans with sugar
Dusting your baking pans with sugar before adding the banana bread batter to the pan does two things: It keeps the bread from sticking to the pan and adds a layer of crunchy sugar to the outside of the bread. Here's how to do it:
- Spray baking pan evenly with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add a few tablespoons of granulated sugar to the pan and tilt and turn the pan until all the sprayed surfaces are coated in sugar.
- Tilt any remaining sugar into a bowl to save for later use or tilt over the sink like I usually do.
Let's Make it Together!
Sugar Crusted Banana Walnut Bread
Ingredients
- 10 ounces salted butter melted
- 2 ¼ cups white granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ cups over-ripe bananas mashed, room temperature (about 5 large bananas)
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ¼ cups bread flour
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ⅓ cups walnuts chopped
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 350° F
- Combine the sugar with the melted butter and stir in the mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla.
- Pour the flour over the banana mixture and sprinkle with the baking soda and salt.
- Gently mix just until no dry spots remain- the batter will be lumpy, do not over mix.
- Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat and add the walnuts. Cook, stirring until the walnuts are gently toasted and remove form the heat.
- Prepare 2 standard-sized loaf pans by spraying liberally with non-stick cooking spray and coating the sides with granulated sugar by swirling and tapping until all the sides of the pan are coated.
- Fill the pans ⅔ of the way full and sprinkle more sugar on top.
- Bake for 55-65 minutes. Bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs on it and the bread is just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Remove bread from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert to remove loaves from the pan.
Nutrition Facts
Emma says
Hey, tried this today and tried my best to follow the recipe, but ended up accidentally mixing every ingredient in at once. I put 2 teaspoons of vanilla instead. So I put it in the oven for 40 minutes, took it out, and found that it was still really soft and gooey inside though it had risen a lot. So I waited another 20 minutes and then I realised - I hadnt put any eggs inside! In fact, I didnt even know there were eggs needed despite carefully reading it many times, goes to show how clumsy I am at these things. So I take it out and try it. And it's the best banana bread it'd ever tasted. Moist and soft on the inside with a great crust on the outside, with a great banana taste that was not overly sweet.
So I take the leftover batter and add an egg to it and redo the process, and its delicious too, just that it tastes more like a cookie thing rather than bread, though its texture is more bready.
In the end, both variations turned out really great but I actually prefer the one where I had accidentally left out the eggs, so if you want a gooey-er bread you can try to go without eggs. Hopefully it wasnt a fluke. Thanks for the recipe!
Heather Cheney says
I'm so glad it turned out, even with the omission of the eggs! Thanks for sharing!
Jennifer says
Excellent recipe!!! I've made this 3x and found that you need to bake the loaves for 1 hour. It also helps to put parchment paper at the bottom before spraying and sprinkling sugar to ensure the loaves come out clean. Super moist and yummy.
Roxanne says
Hey there! Just came across your recipe and I must say I am saving this recipe & when I do my grocery shopping this weekend I am going to include the ingredients to make this &add it to my grocery list. This sounds divine☺️ will make a post with pictures when I make it. Thanks again
Roxanne
Karen says
Thank you, Heather! I look forward to trying it soon!
Karen says
Sorry . . . The recipe looks like it will make yummy loaves!
Karen
Karen says
Hi Heather:
I'm new to your website. I found it searching Tasty Kitchen for bread flour recipes, and I do peel, mash, and freeze overripe bananas! Does this recipe make two 9x5" loaves or two 8x4 1/2" loaves? From the quantity of ingredients, it looks like 9x5, but I just want to be sure before I start. The looks like it will make yummy loaves!
Kind regards,
Karen
Heather says
I beleive my pans are 8x4 1/2, but it will work with the larger size too-- they just won't be quite as tall.
Marian says
Two questions:
1. Any suggestions for very high altitude with baking this?
2. Can I substitute all purpose flour for baking flour?
Rachel (teacher-chef) says
Attacking Bananas - oh yeah, I hear you there!!
I usually peel them before putting them in the freezer because getting frozen bananas out of their peels skeeves me out (so I freeze them in plastic containers and the stacking usually helps with the jumping of bananas)
yum yum yum though
admin says
I need to get on the whole organized freezer bandwagon... 🙂
Diane Roark says
I enjoyed looking at your food idea. The rolls look wonderful. I am making a pasta dish soon for a very large group. The rolls would be quick and easy. I am a Christian mom blogger orginally from Alabama who now lives in Arkansas. I would be blessed if you visit and follow me at: http://www.recipesforourdailybread.com I look forward to following you on pinterest, twitter, and facebook. Blessings.
admin says
Hi Diane! So glad you found my site, I'll be sure to stop by yours! Thanks for taking the time to comment, too 🙂
Meredith says
First off, hi!!! I can't believe it took me this long since IFBC to get around to commenting on your lovely blog!
I was *just* going to google banana bread recipes (I have some favorites, but wanted to try something new) but stopped by here first...how serendipitous! Anyway, I can't wait to try this recipe out. And no - you're definitely not the only one with a bag of frozen brown bananas (in another bag to prevent freezer burn) in the freezer 😉
admin says
Meredith! Likewise, I have yet to visit and talk to many people since IFBC- glad you stopped by! I think I'm still trying to process everything from that weekend. 🙂
Mark C. says
Yep! Many a bruise on the old feet from frozen bananas! But this recipe should help a lot! Thanks, Heather!