I made this banana bread last spring during rainy days. However, I believe in autumn it will be even better, with the walnuts and warm spices of cinnamon and cardamom. I wanted a banana bread with olive oil, yoghurt and walnuts and so I made it just that way. I considered adding espresso, desiccated coconut, tahini or any kind of ginger (powderd, grated, confit), but that will all be for a next time. Just to say, take this recipe and make it any way you like even better than this one. I would love to see and hear your versions.
As far as banana bread goes, it seems basically anything with bananas baked in a loaf pan can pass for a banana bread. I have seen all kinds of ingredients and quantities. In the end, I started out from Mark Bittman’s recipe for the New York Times, then adapted it to my preferences, hoping it would come out okay and it did. Banana bread is very forgiving. I did mostly stick to Mark Bittman’s way of preparation though, and hereby, I send him my thanks. You can find his recipe here.
About the ingredients
Olive oil
I used Greek extra virgin olive oil as I find it delicious and I had it in my cupboard. It gives a richer, slightly heavier flavour than a more neutral (and more affordable) oil like (refined) sunflower oil. So if you prefer, use that. Instead of oil, you can also use softly melted butter. Whatever you have and like.
Yoghurt
I used Greek (strained) yoghurt with 2 percent fat as that’s the one I had. Otherwise I would probably have used 5 percent. Of course you can use any yoghurt (or quark) you have, just avoid the very thin and fully skimmed types.
Flour
I used a mix of wholemeal and white flour as I like the nuttiness and rusticity of wholemeal, yet did not want to make it too heavy. I could also have opted for a semi-wholemeal flour (Italy: tipo 1, France: T80/100 etc.). You can use and mix spelt wheat and regular wheat flours with ground or quick-cooking oats. Just avoid using all oats as the result will become too dense.
Sugar
I like unrefined cane sugar for the earthy dark flavour but of course you can use the sugar that you have. Or experiment with honey, maple syrup or date syrup. These last will add a bit more moisture to the end result.
Walnuts
Toasting the nuts brings out their smell and flavour and it will crisp them up. You can use pecans instead. Almonds, I would only used ground, replacing part of the flour as I find them too hard to go with the soft and light texture of the bread. Hazelnuts I would use either way.
Sultana raisins
I did not soak them. You can certainly use other dried fruits instead like other types of raisins, currants, dates, figs etc. Soak them if they’re very dry.
Recipe
Start from two bowls, one for the dry ingredients and the other one for the wet ingredients and spices. Use a cake tin or small loaf pan for the baking.
Ingredients
Dry ingredients, the larger bowl of the two
100 gr wholemeal spelt flour
100 gr (all-purpose/white) regular wheat flour
50 gr unrefined cane sugar
half a sachet of baking powder (about 8 gr) (check your baking powder for the powder : flour ratio)
a pinch of fine salt
Wet ingredients, the smaller bowl of the two
250 gr ripe bananas without their peel, mashed (I like leaving some bits and pieces for more texture.)
50 gr extra virgin olive oil
75 gr Greek yoghurt
2 eggs
1/2 tsp of cinnamon (or more, to taste)
1/2 tsp of cardamom (or more, to taste)
60 gr walnuts (gently toasted for 5-7 mins in a dry frying pan until lightly browning and nicely smelling)
40 gr sultana raisins
Preparation
Preheat the oven at 170 degrees Celsius and grease a loaf pan or cake tin with oil.
Into the larger bowl, sift the flours together with the baking powder. Add the sugar and the salt.
In the smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs with the oil, yoghurt and spices. Then stir in the mashed bananas. Carefully stir this mixture into the bowl with dry ingredients until a batter forms. Try to mix as shortly as possible for a more airy les sticky bread. It is no problem if some lumps remain. Then add the walnuts and the raisins and stir in gently until evenly dispersed.
Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake at 170 degrees Celsius for about 50 mins in the middle of the oven until the bread has nicely browned on top and a skewer comes out fairly clean (The bananas cause this bread to stay a bit more moist, even after baking, than a regular cake.). “Do not overcook,” Mark Bittman warns in his recipe.
Leave the bread to cool in the tin, placed on a rack, for about 15 mins. Then remove from the tin and leave to cool fully, still on the rack. After that, if you prefer, you can wrap the banana bread in parchment paper and put it back in the tin to retain its moisture. You can also (slice and) freeze the bread to keep it longer and take out as much as you need each time.
Serve the banana bread as it is, with coffee or tea. Alternatively serve it slightly warm or toasted, with butter or some extra yoghurt, walnuts, tahini and/or honey. I mostly ate it plain, sometimes even just as a thick cube on a saucer, accompanying a carefully chosen cup filled with coffee or tea as if I were sitting in a fancy cafe.
Enjoy!
