2020: THE YEAR OF BANANA BREAD. Unofficial … or was it Official? … Food of the Pandemic. Rivaled only perhaps by our sourdough starters. Who knew there would be so much banana bread in this year? I think that I might have ten new recipes this year alone. And I couldn’t help but make one more loaf just to shut this year down. May there be lots of other recipe in our futures and thanks for being there this year. Tomorrow will be just another new day and we can make and bake and share something new and different.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
1 cup very ripe mashed banana
1 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts, divided
1 package Ghiradelli Melting Wafers
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350F. Prepare two parchment or foil slings for two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans or one 9 x 5 inch pan. Spray generously with baking spray and dust with flour.
While the oven preheats, spread the chopped nuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until they smell nutty and fragrant, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the milk, melted butter, egg, and mashed banana and stir well. Stir in a little more than half of the toasted nuts.
Divide the batter evenly between the two pans, or fill the larger pan to 3/4 full (you may have a little batter left; do not overfill) and bake for 40-45 minutes for the smaller pans or 50-55 minutes for the larger, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before turning the loaves out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Once completely cooled, melt the chocolate water in a double boiler or in the microwave (see package for directions). Drizzle over your loaf/loaves and sprinkle on remaining nuts. Let harden/cool before devouring.
