Recipe variation — blueberry, peanut butter, Nutella and mandarin. A variation on our classic Banana Bread. The original bake and proposed taller-loaf variation are distinguished below. Also see the strawberry, mandarin and chocolate variation.
A rich banana loaf with blueberries, peanut butter, Nutella and a little mandarin zest. The photographs show our original two-banana loaf, which baked for 53 minutes at 175°C fan-forced. The quantities below are the proposed taller version for the Nordic Ware tin; its 60–70 minute bake is an estimate, not a tested result.
One loaf · Revised taller-loaf version
Ingredients for the taller loaf
- 3 ripe bananas
- 225 g baker’s flour
- 125 g unsalted butter, melted
- 55 g natural peanut butter
- 50–60 g Nutella
- 110 g white sugar
- 30 g raw sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp full-cream milk or Greek yoghurt
- 140–150 g fresh blueberries
- 1¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- Finely grated zest of ½ mandarin
- Icing sugar, for a light dusting
Method
- Preheat the oven to 170°C fan-forced. Lightly grease the loaf tin and line the base and long sides with baking paper, leaving overhang.
- Wash and thoroughly dry the blueberries. Lightly toss with a teaspoon of flour taken from the measured quantity.
- Mash the bananas. Combine with the white and raw sugars, mandarin zest, melted butter, peanut butter, eggs, vanilla and milk or yoghurt. Mix the Nutella directly into the wet mixture.
- Combine the baker’s flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in another bowl. Fold into the wet mixture by hand just until no dry flour remains.
- Fold most of the blueberries through, keeping some for the top. Transfer to the lined tin and smooth the surface. Scatter the remaining blueberries over the top, press them in slightly and finish with a light dusting of icing sugar.
- For this larger version, allow approximately 60–70 minutes at 170°C fan-forced, checking from 55 minutes. Cover loosely with foil if the top browns before the centre is ready. Test two spots near the centre: moist crumbs are fine, but glossy wet batter means more baking is needed.
- Rest in the tin for 15 minutes, lift onto a wire rack and cool for at least another 30–45 minutes before slicing.
Kitchen notes
The original photographed loaf used 2 bananas, 180 g baker’s flour, 100 g butter, 45 g peanut butter, 40–50 g Nutella, 100 g white sugar, 30 g raw sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 tbsp milk or yoghurt, 100–125 g blueberries, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, ½ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp salt and zest of ¼–½ mandarin, with icing sugar on top. Its confirmed bake was 45 + 8 minutes (53 minutes total) at 175°C fan-forced. The taller quantities were proposed after that cook and have not yet been confirmed by another bake.
From our kitchen
