Banana Bread with Walnuts

Headnote

This is a proper banana bread: deeply aromatic, gently sweet, and structured enough to slice cleanly while remaining tender at the center. The bananas provide moisture and perfume; butter and oil give the crumb both flavor and suppleness. Walnuts bring a measured bitterness and a firm finish that keeps the loaf from becoming soft or monotonous.

Recipe essentials

Dish category: Sweet quick bread

Cuisine or origin: American

Course type: Breakfast, tea cake, snack

Yield: 1 loaf, 8 slices

Serving size: 1 slice

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 55 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

900 g loaf pan

Mixing bowl

Whisk

Rubber spatula

Sieve

Cooling rack

Ingredients

Wet mixture

Banana, very ripe and peeled: 250 g

Sugar: 120 g

Butter, unsalted and melted: 70 g

Vegetable oil: 40 g

Egg: 50 g

Vanilla extract: 5 g

Dry mixture

Wheat flour: 180 g

Baking soda: 4 g

Salt: 3 g

Cinnamon: 2 g

Finish

Walnut, lightly toasted and roughly chopped: 60 g

Method

1. Heat the oven to 175°C. Line a 900 g loaf pan with baking paper, allowing the paper to overhang the long sides for easy lifting.

2. In a mixing bowl, mash the banana until mostly smooth with a few small pieces remaining. Whisk in the sugar, melted butter, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla extract until the mixture is glossy and evenly combined.

3. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together. Add the dry mixture to the banana mixture and fold with a spatula just until no dry flour remains. The batter should be thick, cohesive, and slightly streaked rather than overmixed.

4. Fold in the walnuts evenly. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan and smooth the surface with the spatula.

5. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, rotating once halfway through if your oven bakes unevenly. The loaf is ready when the top is deeply golden, the center springs back lightly to the touch, and a skewer inserted into the middle emerges with only a few moist crumbs.

6. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift out and cool completely on a rack before slicing. The crumb should settle into a fine, tender structure and slice cleanly without collapsing.

Plating and serving

Slice into 8 even pieces and serve at room temperature. Present each slice with the cut face visible, so the walnut distribution and moist crumb are apparent. The ideal slice is neat, fragrant, and softly yielding at the center with a well-browned edge.

Professional notes

Use bananas that are fully ripe; their flavor and moisture define the loaf. Do not overmix once the flour is added, or the crumb will tighten. A brief rest after baking improves slicing and allows the texture to set with precision.