Fact: Banana bread is the internet’s most-searched recipe. Luckily for us, we swear our very own Trinbagonian Gerard Marquez, also known as Chef G shares with us his amazing recipe. This banana bread, made with Naturally Almond milk, is so easy to whisk together. You only have to wait one hour while your house fills with tempting aromas, and then you’ll be enjoying a slice of warm, fresh-baked banana bread.
INGREDIENTS
8 ounces butter/ margarine
8 ounces sugar
3 eggs
2 pounds banana
4 ounces sliced almonds
2 ounces chopped walnuts
1 cup oats
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon almond essence
1 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 of a nutmeg (grated)
Pinch cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
1 Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
The first step is to cream the butter and sugar. Creaming means combining sugar with butter, shortening or margarine.
2 Leave the butter out on the counter for 1 hour till it becomes room temperature.
3 In a food processor or a hand mixer, blend your butter on low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape the butter on the sides of the mixer with a rubber spatula. Turn the speed up to medium and mix for 1 -1 1/2 minutes.
4 Begin adding the brown sugar a little bit at a time. Periodically, scrape the mixture off the sides of the bowl.
The butter is “creamed” for uniform, fluffy texture and a slightly lighter colour.
5 In a large bowl, pour out the butter and sugar mixture and mix by hand Keep mixing until the mix becomes smooth and increases in mass. This takes 6–7 minutes.
6 Mix in your eggs, one at a time into the butter mixture.
7 In a food processor, process all your bananas (reserve 3 bananas for later).
8 To your butter mixture, add your processed bananas and oats and mix well.
9 Sift half of your flour into the batter.
10 Add the cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, almond essence and 1 cup of Naturally Almond almond milk into the mixture and mix.
11 Sift in the remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda and pour in the remaining almond milk.
12 Chop 3 of your bananas into bite-sized pieces and mix into batter. Also, mix in your walnuts and almonds.
12 Prepare your baking pans by greasing them generously with butter and coating each pan with 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour.
13 Fill your baking pans 3/4 full. Top with sliced almonds, chopped walnuts and sliced bananas.
14 Bake for 1 hour and test for doneness by sticking the centre with a toothpick. If there is wet batter still on the toothpick, it needs more time in the oven. If it comes out clean, your banana bread is done!
15 Allow to rest for 1/2 hour and slice and serve!
