***NEWSFLASH*** NQN is holding a Banana Bread Bake off event! Bake your Best Banana Bread recipe and enter this event here!
It is true that there are at least 1001 recipes for Banana Bread. It is also true that some of them will claim to be the best ever recipe. Whilst I can’t say that I am remotely qualified to be the judge of the best banana bread, I can say that I am somewhat qualified to eat them. So I decided that with a surplus of bananas (in Australia April-June and August-October are the best times to eat them), I’d make four different kinds of Banana Bread. The first one was of course from Nigella, the second a standby good old banana bread recipe I found in a Woolworths Fresh magazine, the third from the Taste website by Janelle Bloom (yes, I know she microwaves everything but this recipe did not involve the microwave and I was persuaded by the coconut flavour in it) and the last one is a Chocolate Banana bread by Karen Martini from the Sunday Life magazine.
1. Nigella’s Banana bread
I was woken at 7am this morning by a sudden urge to bake. Actually no, it was the birds outside and their loud morning calls that woke me but not knowing what to do with myself, I decided to bake. It was at the urging and from the favorable reviews on Vogue’s food forum that I sought to make Nigella’s banana bread. I was also influenced by the bananas that were ripening aromatically in my kitchen that were the perfect size for this recipe. The addition of brandy or rum soaked sultanas and walnuts makes this a little fancier and showier than your normal Banana Bread. I call this the Marcia Brady of the Banana Breads.
I made this a little rougher textured that I would like in that I didn’t chop the walnuts too finely and unlike most baked goods, I found this really came into its own when it was cold, sliced and buttered. When it was straight out of the oven, it just didn’t appeal to me as much.
- 100g sultanas
- 75ml bourbon or dark rum (or apple or orange juice if you’re wanting it to be non alcoholic)
- 175g plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- half teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- half teaspoon salt
- 125g unsalted butter, melted
- 150g sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 4 small, very ripe bananas (about 300g weighed without skin), mashed
- 60g chopped walnuts
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 23 x 13 x 7cm loaf tin, buttered and floured or with a paper insert
1. Put the sultanas and rum or bourbon in a smallish saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, cover and leave for an hour if you can, or until the sultanas have absorbed most of the liquid, then drain.
2. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas mark 3 and get started on the rest. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a medium-sized bowl and, using your hands or a wooden spoon, combine well. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar and beat until blended.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the mashed bananas. Then, with your wooden spoon, stir in the walnuts, drained sultanas and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each bit.
4. Scrape into the loaf tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 1 to 1 and a quarter hours. When it’s ready, an inserted toothpick or fine skewer should come out cleanish. Leave in the tin on a rack to cool, and eat thickly or thinly sliced, as you prefer.
Makes 8-10 slices
From How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson
2. Woolworth’s Fresh Banana Bread
This is more your plain Jane, nothing fancy like walnuts or brandy soused sultanas. I see it more as the Jan Brady of Banana Bread. Nigella’s would undoubtedly be Marcia Marcia Marcia. That doesn’t mean Jan isn’t good but she just isn’t as flashy but it also means that she is less work. It’s soft and fine grained but less moist.
Prep: 10 minutes Cooking: 50 minutes Makes: 1 loaf (10-12 slices)
- 1 cup (150g) plain flour
- 1/2 cup (75g) self raising flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 125g butter, melted and cooled
- 2 eggs whisked
- 3-4 ripe bananas, mashed
1. Preheat oven to 180c. Grease and line the base and sides of an 11cms x 21cmsx6cm deep loaf pan.
2. Combine flours, sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl. Whisk butter and eggs together. Stir in banana. Spoon into prepared pan. Smooth the surface.
3. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Serve spread with butter.
Recipe: Woolworths Fresh magazine
3. Janelle Bloom’s Banana and Coconut Bread
Yes I do know that she is on Ready Steady Cook purporting the merits of Microwaves at every turn but I am willing to overlook this because of the addition of coconut and coconut milk in this Banana bread. This cake is very delicate, moist and light, the lightest of the four and not overly sweet but just sweet enough. Interestingly, there’s no butter in the recipe with the moisture and fat content provided by the coconut milk (I used coconut cream) which produces a lovely moistness. I call this the Mrs Brady-the surprise fox among the hens.
Ingredients (serves 8 )
- 1 cup desiccated coconut
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
- 1 cup mashed banana (see note)
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method
1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line a 6cm deep, 10.5cm x 20.5cm (base) loaf pan.
2. Combine coconut, sugar and flour in a large bowl. Using a fork, beat banana, coconut milk, egg and vanilla in a jug. Pour over flour mixture. Gently stir to combine. Spoon mixture into pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean.
3. Stand for 10 minutes in pan. Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve sliced or toasted with butter, jam or cream cheese.
Notes & tips
* Note: Two large or 3 medium-sized ripe bananas will give 1 cup of mashed banana.
* Tip: Banana coconut loaf will keep for 1 week stored in an airtight container.
Source Super Food Ideas – September 2005 , Page 21
Recipe by Janelle Bloom
4. Karen Martini’s Chocolate and Banana Bread
I left the most fiddly one until last. It’s not particularly fiddly when you compare it to a normal cake but it does require creaming and thus the aid of the heavy equipment whereas the other banana breads just needed a bit of luxuriated stirring. I am in two minds about Karen Martini’s recipes, the ones that I have tried have not been great, but the picture of this one was too tempting to not make. As it turns out, mine did not resemble the one in her picture in the slightest (notwithstanding the fact that I forgot to add the banana on top). Hers was a deep, dark chocolate colour on the outside with a glossy coating on top. Mine was more a very light brown and not glossy. Also when cutting it when warm, it wasn’t very dense, I would have liked a note to slice it when it’s cold. So I guess it’s the last Karen Martini recipe for me at least for a while. I like the little notes that Nigella gives and the fact that things turn out as they look in the pictures. As its the most trouble, and a little bit dense, it just has to be Cindy Brady.
- 250g plain flour
- 20g cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 120g butter softened
- 130g raw sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2-4 very large ripe bananas (about 500g, mashed plus 1 extra)
- 60g shredded coconut
- 80g dark chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to fan-forced 175c (195c conventional)
2. Soft combined flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well in between. Add mashed banana and stir until combined. Fold in flour mixture, then add coconut and chocolate chips and stir until well combined.
3. Grease a loaf pan (22x12cms) and line the base with baking paper. Spoon mixture into pan. Slice extra banana and place on top of loaf (arrrgh I forgot the banana on top!). Bake for 65-70 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.
Recipe from Sunday Life by Karen Martini
I can say that out of the 4, I most liked Janelle Bloom’s Coconut and Banana bread the best followed closely by Nigella’s Banana Bread. I wasn’t so taken by Karen Martini’s Chocolate banana bread as I prefer dessicated to shredded coconut as it’s more delicate. As for the plain Jane Jan Brady Woolworth’s loaf, that was my least favourite in comparison with the others.
However my husband was an entirely different matter altogether. He liked the Woolworths Fresh magazine one the most, followed by Nigella’s, then Karen Martini’s Chocolate Banana bread and then Janelle Bloom’s Coconut banana bread which he said stuck to the roof of his mouth too much for comfort!
Having said that I don’t think that I would chuck any of them out of my bed at night and I found them all, uniformly best served cold with a spread of butter.
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25 Comments | Add your own
i luv anything and everything banananana
for me, the best banana bread recipe so far is stephanie alexander’s : http://kitschenette.typepad.com/redkitchen/2005/03/banana_cake.html
Your baking energy amazes me, like the main character in ‘Eat Cake’ by Jeanne Ray (terrific book about baking by the way (fiction)). Thanks for the low down on banana bread! And especially for the cross section photos.
You’ve done a wonderful taste test of banana breads (Women’s Weekly test kitchen eat your hearts out!). And the Nigella/Marcia one looks worth a try, even for a lazy baker like me.
don’t give up on Karen’s recipes just yet! They are great but I find they need a little self moderation as she tends to use HUGE amounts of oil and flavourings that may not be required or to everyone’s taste. If you can get your hands on her book “Where the heart is”, her crumble topping recipe is the best I have ever found (I use the recipe unedited too).
How did u know!!?? You must’ve read my mind! I’ve had banana bread on the brain lately. I bought some bananas on saturday and waiting for them to ripen so that I can use them to make banana bread. My local Safeway/Woolworths(depending on what state I am in at the time) used to sell banana bread in the bakery section which was pretty good. They even sold it when bananas were scarce and expensive, however there was definitely less banana in there. But then they discontinued it. And that made me sad
It wasn’t a cakey texture and is best described as a darker,sturdy bread. I loved slicing away at it and have been looking to recreate something similar. I’m gonna give Nigella’s recipe a go. I like eating banana bread cold. I always find that it doesn’t taste as sweet and is often “nuked” on heating. I’m such a sucker for this blog! Thank you NQN!
Hi Tian-I didn’t even think to look in my copy of the Cook’s Companion. It looks fairly similar to the Woolworths Magazine one in that there’s no additions like nuts or coconut. If I had the energy I’d probably try making it!
Hi Lori-Thanks! We had so much banana bread for a while everyone we knew got some
Thanks for the book recommendation too! I’m always interested in food books (fiction or non fiction) 
Hi belle-Thankyou!
Yes the Nigella/Marcia one is lovely cold spread with butter but I didn’t like it as much warm (and I usually like baked goods warmed).
Hi Renee-I made a crumble of hers before, it had cashew nuts and all sorts of chunky bits in the topping. It was nice but yes lots of flavourings and I felt myself hankering for a plain crumble topping with oats, butter and brown sugar… Perhaps I’ll try again sometime in the future if I get inspired but for me, I get really disappointed if it doesn’t look like the picture.
Hi Maria-Hehe great minds think alike! I think bananas are so cheap and especially after the drought people have bought up big and then realised that they couldn’t eat them all so banana bread is the thing to make. I know that’s what happened with the 2kg I bought
Interesting about the Woolworths banana bread, you’d think they’d make it now that they are plentiful and not $10 a kilo! I remember when there were no banana items to be seen during the drought. I wanted a banana caramel shake from Wendy’s as I craved banana but of course they weren’t doing any.
I think that cold banana breads are just heavenly, I think cold makes it taste more moist! Thankyou, what a lovely thing to say!
Nigella once said there’s not much that can’t be fixed by slapping it between two soft slices of white bread (words to this effect).. soft white bread sandwiches are yum. AND I’d like to add that there’s not much that can’t be fixed by spreading a layer of butter on top!
I loved the idea of your bake-off… thank you for doing this!
I also have to agree with you re: Karen Martini’s recipes. I look at her expensive cookbook in the shops and I think “surely if she can do this in the foodie world.. you can too?”!! She’s not a size 8 either.. so that gives me hope!
By the sounds of it..I think I’d like Janelle Bloom’s cake too
holy crap, i’m bumming around my kitchen looking for a snack, and this post is killing me!
if only i hadn’t just “used up all my bananas!
I posted about banana bread today as well! I love your comparisons. I think I’ll try Nigella’s next.
Hi NQN,
I’m a great fan of your recent banana themed posts
keep them coming (feel free to send the dishes to me as well)
Yum!! I love bananana bread =P My friend Beth from Kentucky makes a mean banana bread. Hope you don’t mind if I share the recipe
2 cup self rising flour (or 2 cups All purpose, 2 ½ tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt)
2 med bananas sliced thin
½ cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
¼ tsp vanilla
¼ cup cold water
½ cup cut up dates (optional)
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Beat bananas until almost smooth. Cream butter and sugar, beat in eggs one at a time until fluffy, beat in vanilla and bananas, add flour, blend well. Add water, blend, stir in dates and walnuts.
For bread loaves: Bake in greased pan at 350 for 65 to 70 minutes.
Hi Maria-That’s too true and there’s nothing that can’t be enhanced with some butter *drools*
I am fairly demanding on my recipes in that if it doesn’t look like the picture or have a chance of looking like the picture or taste great I get incredibly disappointed and upset. Actually it happened with Nigella’s Feast book. I cooked about 7-8 recipes from there and they were disappointing so I hardly used it.
Janelle Bloom’s cake hasn’t got any butter and it’s lower in fat (although with coconut milk, it’s not quite low fat) but if you get a chance to make it, I’d love to know what you think!
Hi michelle-I loved the way you used up your bananas!
Hi Sathya-It must definitely be banana season
Your banana bread looks lovely-do let me know what you think of the Nigella one!
Hi Cappucino-That’s great to hear and thankyou!
Hi Kathy-Thanks so much for sharing your recipe! I think Banana bread bake off could do with a round two in the future with all of these recipes. I like the sound of the dates in it. Dates in anything are good!
Great review again! 4 different receipes. Enjoyed ur visual pictures as well
OK – I have been noticing a pattern in the comments but I too had banana bread on my mind on the weekend!!!! I ended up making plain vanilla cupcakes to fill up my cake tins and to use up my bananas I made banana custard. The banana custard is a Karen Martini recipe from Sunday Life magazine last year. Is really, really yummy and that is a Karen Martini recipe I can recommend! I am a fan of Nigella’s banana bread – actually this is what my fiancee requests each year for his birthday! But am now keen to try J. Bloom’s banana bread – sounds really good. Thanks for posting!
genius idea! love it! could this perhaps be the sign that you need to start your very own food blog event….the NQN Banana Bread Bake-off? held every year…everyone chooses their favourite recipe and posts about the results???? i’d be in!
NQN, hmm visually i feel like stephanie alexander’s banana bread actually looks better than woolworths? (:
And I think her recipe which includes buttermilk and spices just gives it a special something
it’s always banananey, moist yet delicate and a nice brown crust. a good crust is very important!
Hi sarah-Thankyou so much! Glad you liked it
Hi sally-I think it must be banana month!
Mmmm banana custard-I’ve only tried the custard in the carton which is made from banana flavouring. Sounds delicious! Your fiancee has good taste with the Nigella banana bread for his birthday cake! I’d love to hear what you think of the banana bread 
Hi airy fairy-Hehe that would be a good idea! Everyone has a banana bread recipe too-that’s one thing for certain
Hi Tian-Sounds like I would need to try it then! Now that all of the banana bread is gone, I feel a void in the kitchen….
Ah, I have a fabbo banana bread recipe adapted from a Bill Granger recipe on a dvd that was given away a while back with delicious mag or something.
The orginal recipe can be found:
http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/Recipes/recipe.asp?id=1598,
but my version is below:
50g oats
300ml Milk
240g Self Raising wholemeal Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
Up to three overripe mashed bananas
75g Soft Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
3 tablespoons Honey
1 Lightly Beaten Egg
Method:
1. Put the oats in a bowl, pour the milk over them and leave to soak for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4).
3. Lightly grease and line a 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) loaf tin with baking paper.
4. mix the flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir in the rolled oats, banana, sugar, cinnamon, honey, egg. Mix together well.
5. Spoon the mixture into the tin, level the top and sprinkle with the extra almonds. Bake the loaf for 45 minutes, or until it is golden brown on top and cooked through.
6. Leave it to cool a little in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
I generally find that this is a great low fat base for many different flavourings…
Ah Banana Bread… I’ve got about 12+ kg of bananas to use up at work. Have been putting off making any so far, because frankly, that amount of bananas is a bit off putting! My favourite banana bread recipe is by one of my favourite cookbook writers, Belinda Jeffery:
http://blog.lemonpi.net/?p=1177
That Janelle Bloom one sounds interesting though!
Hi reemski-Bill
s recipes are always good and reliable. Perhaps you could make this for the Banana Bread bake off that I’m holding?
Hi Y-That banana bread looks fantastic! I haven’t really looked in Belinda Jeffrey, I think I made a tomato pie of her’s once and it was alright although a little heavy. I shouldn’t let that put me off the rest of her stuff though!
Please can you send me the recipie for cherry strudle, especially the crispy pastry part.
regards Lana
I just made a loaf of Janelle Bloom’s banana and coconut bread and, oh my, it is divine!
I couldn’t resist a taste straight out of the oven and was pleasantly surprised by the taste and texture, especially considering the recipe uses no butter (I actually used light coconut milk and it is lovely and moist). Thankyou for sharing, I am a huge fan of your blog!
You’ve got to try Stephanie Alexander’s Banana cake from The Cooks Companion. It’s amazing! it’s even better sliced and toasted and spread with Steph’s lemon curd!
I used to use Nigella’s banana cake from Domestic Godess but now Steph’s recipe rules my recipe folder LOL
Ive bene eating banana bread ever since I discovered it 2 months ago here in sydney,,,Been wondering how to make it,,And now I know,,,Thank you
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