Eggless Banana Walnut Bread

The easiest, and most delicious one-bowl eggless banana walnut bread recipe you’ll ever need.

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When it comes to guilty indulgence, mine has to be a rich, moist slice of banana walnut bread, topped with vanilla ice-cream and maybe a splash of caramel if I happen to have any at the time. Its something I want to reach out for at midnight when hunger pangs strike, and also something I bake for all my friends and family when I need a quick dessert for a potluck! Nobody ever tires of it or doesn’t ask for the recipe. It’s just that good!

There’s a possibility that if not before, you’ve certainly baked a banana bread during the lockdown when its popularity suddenly exploded. And with good reason too. It’s a recipe with the simplest ingredients that are found easily even during a global pandemic when retail shelves otherwise grew desolated.

This recipe is perhaps the easiest you’ve ever come across. No fancy ingredients or tools to make it. It’s eggfree, and needs only these common kitchen staples:

• Flour
• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Over-ripe Bananas
• Oil
• Sugar
• Vanilla essence (which is optional but adds a good flavor)

Making it is as easy as its list of ingredients. But first, lets talk about the star of this recipe

BANANAS

Ripeness

Over-ripe bananas are necessary to make a moist banana bread. Raw or unripened bananas will compromise the texture and taste. The blacker the banana is, the sweeter it is and adds more of a ‘banana-y” flavor to your bread. However there is a fine line of difference between over-ripe and rotten and you want to make sure you don’t get into the latter territory. Since most fruit vendors will not keep or sell you blackened bananas (unless like mine, who keep them specially aside for me) you could get regular ripened ones, wrap them in newspaper and place them in a warm place in the house for 24 hours or till they reach the perfect stage of ripeness.

Flash-Ripening Bananas

If you’re in a particular hurry to make banana bread, and don’t have ripe enough bananas, here’s a hack. Place unpeeled bananas individually apart on a baking sheet/tray ad bake them at 150 degree C for 10-15 minutes. The heat will flash-ripen them, then peel and use.

Size of the Bananas

The size of the bananas can differ from place to place. Here I’m using small ones that weigh about 65-70g (peeled.) If you feel like the bananas you use are bigger, you could use only 4 or 5 as well.

Mashing the Bananas

Mashing the bananas is an important step and you could use a fork, a masher, or even a beater to ensure the bananas are finely mashed and no large chunks remain.

MIX-INS

The best part of this banana bread is how versatile it is. You could play around with different mix-ins and flavors and it works well with a variety of them and tastes delicious each time. Get creative with any or a mix of any of these.

• assorted nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc)
• dried fruits (raisins, cranberries, plums, blueberries, etc)
• seeds (pumpkin/sunflower/flaxseed)
• chocolate or butterscotch chips
• spices (cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg)
• citrus zest (lemon/orange/limes etc)
• extracts (toffee, vanilla, citrus, caramel, almond etc)
• shredded coconut

My favorite is to use a combination of walnuts, dried cranberries and black currants and some dark chocolate chips. Yes, so extra I know but it just tastes fantastic! If not this, I prefer to stick to the traditional walnut + cinnamon – simple and sweet.

TOPPING

If not in the batter, you could also top up the banana bread with your favorite topping. Dulce de Leche, caramel or a scoop of ice-cream work the best. Even a simple brown sugar glaze elevates this humble banana bread. If you’d rather eat a slice on its own, you will still be in love with it coz it’s just that good!

The banana bread is made in a few easy steps

1. Mash the bananas well.
2. Add the oil and sugar.
3. Add spices, zest or extracts if using any. Mix.
4. Sieve in the flour, baking powder and baking soda.
5. Gently whisk the batter ensuring no dry flour remains
6. Fold in any nuts/seeds/chips that you’re using. Bake.

BAKING

Typically a banana bread takes between 55-60 minutes to bake. The best way to check for doneness is to insert a toothpick right into the center of the loaf, all the way down. If it comes out with batter stuck to it you need to continue baking.

However if your bread starts to get a lot of color on top, you could place a piece of foil over the pan to stop the browning process. Also, you need to ensure you cool the banana bread completely before slicing it. Once the pan reaches room temperature, remove the loaf and place it on a wire rack to cool further. Leaving it in the pan too long (after removing from the oven) will lead to the bread getting moist/soggy at the bottom.

STORING

Banana bread stores well upto 5 days in the refrigerator. Best is to slice it, and put it in an airtight container. You can warm it up slightly before eating.

There is literally no reason for you not to make this your weekend treat! You’ll be blown away with how easy and good it is. Leave me a comment if you try this! Or find me on Instagram here

If you liked this recipe, you may like some of these others too!

Eggless Pear and Walnut Cake
Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake
Eggless Coffee Cinnamon Cake
Eggless Chocolate Cake
Eggless Lemon Loaf Cake

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