Banana Walnut Bread

Yes, I have jumped on the Banana Walnut Bread bandwagon; and you’re about to too! 😉

Bananas – you either love them or hate them! Well, I don’t love them OR hate them. To me, they are inbetweeners. While I have eaten one too many back in college to squeeze something nutritious into a diet that consisted mainly of coffee, packaged noodles, more coffee, and then some, I have never truly loved them like I love strawberries and mangoes! And to have them in a baked treat was a concept I just couldn’t wrap my head around.

That was until I savoured my first ever bite of Banana Bread! It was at a department store. The promo girl sweetly called out to me to give her product a try. So, I obliged. (Don’t judge; I was really doing it for her. Okay, maybe a little for my insatiably hungry tummy! 😛 ) The piece of Banana Bread she handed me was pure paradise – sweet, and banana-licious, with a moist, buttery crumb. I remember my mind constantly dodging between, ‘Is this a bread?’ or ‘Is this a cake?’. And then a few bites in, it was more like, ‘Is this one helluva bread?’ or ‘Is this one helluva cake?’!

Thus I picked up my first loaf of Banana Bread. And the next time I went back, I bought two. ‘I won’t have to slog for breakfast before work’, I told myself. In truth, I was eating it for breakfast and as dessert after lunch AND dinner! I guess I never really figured out if it was bread or cake. 😛

A few months on, I decided it was about time I baked my own Banana Bread. The idea was to bake one much healthier than the store-bought version, and more delicious. So, I looked at recipe after recipe until I landed on this fab one for Healthy Moist Banana Bread by Layla Atik at Gimme Delicious. Having tweaked the recipe and tested it multiple times, I believe I have the perfect Banana Walnut Bread ready for you!

Before I share my recipe with you, let’s talk a little bit about this Banana Walnut Bread. This recipe calls for whole wheat flour; is only sweetened with bananas (duh!) and honey; and uses NO butter – all the moisture comes from a small amount of oil and a larger amount of Greek yogurt! Win win win, isn’t it? Make a nice, hearty loaf, and you’ve got breakfast sorted for a few days! Just try, I mean really try, to keep away from it the rest of the day! 😛

Here’s what you need: 

• Bananas – 8 small/ 4 large, ripe
• Vegetable Oil – 1/4 cup
• Honey – 1/3 cup
• Greek Yogurt – 1/2 cup
• Eggs – 2, large
• Vanilla Extract – 2 tsp
• Whole Wheat Flour – 1 & 3/4 cups
• Baking Soda – 1 tsp
• Salt – 1/2 tsp
• Cinnamon Powder – 2 tsp
• Walnuts – 1/2 cup + extra for garnish, roughly chopped

Here’s how to make this amazing, yet healthy Banana Walnut Bread! 

• Preheat your oven to 160 °C/ 325 °F. In a large bowl, mash up the bananas with a fork. Pour in oil, honey, Greek yogurt and vanilla extract. Give it a mix. Then add in the eggs and beat the batter with a fork/spatula until well combined.
• Sift in the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix until just incorporated.
• Add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts to the batter, give it a mix and then empty the batter into a loaf tin lined with parchment paper. Garnish with remaining walnuts and lightly press them into the surface of the batter.
• Pop the Banana Walnut Bread into the oven and allow it to bake for 50-55 minutes. Once done, turn off the oven, and leave it in for an additional 5-10 minutes. Take the Banana Walnut Bread out and cool completely on a wire rack. At this point, muster up every ounce of self-restraint you have to not dig in; it’s hot hot HOT!

There’s pages and pages I can write about how this Banana Walnut Bread rocked my world! But there’s a loaf of heaven in the kitchen that’s waiting to be sliced into, so I’m gonna make it quick! 😛

• First off, this Banana Walnut Bread is DELICIOUS! It is soft yet dense, succulent and flavourful, and is complete with the warmth of cinnamon and crunch of walnuts! Way too yummy!
• This recipe calls for ripe bananas and not over-ripe bananas like most Banana Bread recipes do. So you don’t have to wait around for the bananas to go brown/black. As soon as they’re yellow and soft enough to eat, you can chuck them into this loaf.
• This Banana Walnut Bread is refined sugar free! With honey and bananas being the only sources of sweetness, it is subtly sweet, making it perfect for a sweet start to the day or a quick snack.
• The use of Greek yogurt in the recipe brings about the most beautiful crumb when baked – moist, dense and tender. It’s the kind of crumb that melts oh so slowly, leaving behind a lingering lusciousness on your tongue.
• Walnuts bring much needed crunch and bite to this Banana Walnut Bread. Their nuttiness and slight bitter notes help cut through the sweetness and cinnamon spice of the loaf, making it one delightful treat!
• This is a one-bowl recipe, which means barely any cleanup! 😀
• Last, but not the least, this Banana Walnut Bread is the textbook definition of AMAZING! So amazing, even words fail it. BAKE IT NOW! 😉

Go on, head to the kitchen. And make yourself some Banana Walnut Bread. You deserve it! 🙂 ❤

 

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