I love banana bread. It is a versatile bread that’s more like a cake. You can have it for breakfast – toasted with a bit of cream cheese spread over it or as a tasty snack.
Recently, I received the latest Leon cookbook – Baking and Puddings as a gift and came across their version. I had to give it a go!
In the past, I have generally gone for a straight up banana bread, no additions like nuts or chocolate, but I was intrigued with the inclusion of pecans in this recipe.
You should always use ripe bananas in a banana bread. Under-ripe ones just wouldn’t taste right.
This recipe uses spelt flour, which gives the bread a really nice hearty texture.
This recipe recommends slicing a banana in half, lengthwise, and placing it on top of the batter just before it goes in the oven. As the bread bakes, the banana sinks to the middle.
I have to say, this is the best banana bread recipe I have come across. The whole banana running through the middle of the bread added more banana flavour and texture and the addition of pecan nuts gave the bread a slight maple-y flavour.
This recipe will definitely be in heavy rotation in our house. YUM!
I love the idea of putting the bananas in the middle of the bread! Love Leon, must check out this book
I make it for my cafe La Madeleine . It is fabulous and so is the Leon coconut cake.
Ooh, thanks for the recommendation, I’ll definitely give the coconut cake a go!