Posting date for is March 3rd.
HONEY BANANA POPPY SEED BREAD
Yield: One 9-by-5-inch loaf
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
Baked Note: The poppy seeds aren’t essential to this recipe, but we think they provide a pleasant textural contrast. The bread base itself is completely malleable, so feel free to swap out the poppies with either a 1/2 cup of toasted chopped walnuts (for a more traditional loaf) or a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips (a Baked favorite).
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position the rack in the center. Butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, dust it with flour, and knock out the excess flour.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
In another large bowl, whisk together the bananas, vegetable oil, milk, honey, and eggs.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ever so gently until just combined. Stir in the poppy seeds.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Let the loaf cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. The loaf will keep at room temperature, tightly covered, for up to 3 days.
Excerpted from Baked Elements: Our 10 Favorite Ingredients by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copyright © 2012 by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Excerpted by permission of Stewart, Tabori & Chang, an imprint of Abrams. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
I have a little bit of a fear of quick breads. That crater that forms on top, and when I check the bread with a tester, it’s done everywhere but that crater.
Mine looked done, smelled done, and was super toasty brown, but I was brave and left it in the oven until even the crater was fully cooked. I was sure the entire loaf was going to be dry as a bone (it wasn’t, it turned out perfect).
Anyone else fear the crater?
OMG, that is *exactly* what happened to mine! I’m not sure I’ve ever made a quickbread from scratch before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
At 54 minutes, it seemed completely done, except the top-center (I love the “look” of the crater!), and I didn’t want to over-cook it, so I took it out… and then the whole middle collapsed! When I cut into it, the center was quite raw, though the rest was moist and delicious. (Yummy scraps!)
I’m planning to rebake– so you’re saying I should just leave it in?? I was considering lowering the oven temp to 325F, but maybe I’ll just be brave too… ;-)
I tried 325 based on my own banana bread recipe and it didn’t rise much at all, while my BB recipe always puffs up with a big crack down the middle, so who knows. Maybe I will try the tent too… I didn’t take photos of the last loaf since it wasn’t very photogenic (although delicious)!
Okay, Mark and Erin suggested tenting with foil, so I tried that, and it worked! I haven’t cut into the loaf yet, but it looks promising! :)
Just leave it in, yes. But I’m looking forward to hearing how the foil worked.
The top of mine got dark, dark brown, but still tasted great.
I’m happy to report that my bread came out great the second time! The foil worked perfectly– I put it on after 45 minutes and baked for another 20 minutes. Thanks, peeps! :)
i’m anxious to see everyone’s post, as my bread did not turn out the way i had expected… probably not going to post about it, as i didn’t really enjoy it, but wondering if i did something wrong somewhere…
I left mine in for 1 hour 10 minutes, it got very dark, but it is done in the middle. I didn’t follow the recipe very closely at all, though.
Love your blog;thank you very much for the great ideas.