Banana bread is good for a lot of things — it makes for an easy last-minute gift, breakfast potluck addition, or simple grab-and-go snack. It's considered a quick bread, as it doesn't require yeast for rising or time-consuming kneading. Simply mix all of the ingredients together and bake! Yet there are still a few pitfalls to baking banana bread that you'll want to avoid. Don't let anything get in between you and your banana bread — steer clear of these common banana bread mistakes.
If you've ever tried to mash green bananas, you know that's no fun. That's why you should use only very ripe bananas to make banana bread. Not only are overripe bananas easier to mash, they also give the bread more moisture, sweetness, and flavor. How ripe is overripe? We're talking anything from spotted bananas all the way to solid black. If you need to make banana bread today and all you have are nearly ripe bananas — roast 'em. Learn our quick tricks to ripen bananas.
For soft and tender banana bread, gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry — don't overmix! The more you stir, the more gluten will develop. The result will be a tough, rubbery banana bread. Simply stir until moist, and then do no more. In summary: Do less work, get better bread.
3. You Use Too Much Banana
Fight the urge to use more banana than called for in your recipe. Using too much banana could make your bread heavy and damp in the center, causing it to appear undercooked and unappealing. If you have bananas leftover, you can always freeze them for later use.
Moisture is key when it comes to banana bread, and the ratio of flour to banana makes all the difference. If you use too much flour, you'll end up with dry bread. If you don't use enough, your bread will be too wet. The secret is actually in how you measure the flour. The "scoop straight out of the bag" method could be packing way too much flour into your measuring cup. Instead, use the "spoon and level" method by spooning flour into a measuring cup and scraping off the excess with the flat side of a knife or straight edge.
5. You Don't Check to Make Sure It's Done
Don't make the mistake of cutting into your banana bread only to discover it's uncooked in the center. While it's still in the oven, insert a skewer into the center. If the skewer comes out clean — or with just a crumb or two sticking to the skewer — it's ready. If the skewer has any raw batter sticking to it, put the bread back in the oven for about 5 minutes, and then check it again.
6. You Don't Allow It to Cool
You should remove the bread from the pan fairly soon after it comes out of the oven. The longer it sits in the pan, the soggier the bottom will become. Allow the bread to cool completely on a cooling rack before wrapping it in plastic wrap or transferring it to an airtight container. Warm bread wrapped in plastic wrap leads to condensation which leads to mold. Also, cooling the bread firms up the structure and makes for cleaner slices. If you love eating warm bread (and who doesn't?) you can always heat up your slice a bit in the oven.
But if you try to use up all your bananas without paying attention to the ratio of other ingredients, your bread can turn out damp, soggy, and mushy. Contrary to what one may think, there is such a thing as using too many bananas in a banana bread.
Skimping on the sugar can dry out a loaf of banana bread and leave it flavorless. It turns out, sugar does more than just make things sweeter. When it comes to banana bread, cutting back on sugar will leave you with a dry loaf totally devoid of any distinguishable flavor.
If you use baking powder instead of baking soda, add a total of three times the amount of baking powder than the recipe recommends for baking soda to “fix” the mistake. However, keep in mind that adding too much baking powder can cause the baked goods to taste bitter. The batter can also rise too quickly and then fall.
The result could be a banana bread that is dense, spongy, and rubbery. Given that this baked treat is already a hefty product, you will want to avoid these unappetizing textures. According to The Cake Blog, over doing it on the egg addition can also affect flavor.
Yellow Bananas with a Hint of Green: These are still a bit early for banana bread, but they can work in a pinch. The flavor will be less intense, and the bread might be a bit denser. Bananas with Mostly Yellow Peels and Brown Spots are my sweet spot.
You should remove the bread from the pan fairly soon after it comes out of the oven. The longer it sits in the pan, the soggier the bottom will become.
Let the bananas ripen (and overripen) at room temperature. Depending on the weather, this could take a few days, or up to a week. The best bananas for banana bread aren't yellow; they're black. Or they're at least streaked with black/brown, with just the barest hint of green at the stem.
How Long Does Banana Bread Last? Wrapped well and stored at room temperature, banana bread will last about five days. If stored in the fridge, it should last a full week.
Banana bread can stay fresh at room temperature for three days, if stored in a cool dry place. You can try one of a few different methods for storage: Plastic wrap and an airtight container.
Place a paper towel at the bottom of an airtight container or in a zip-top bag. Place the cooled banana bread on top of it, then cover the loaf with another paper towel. Seal the container tightly and store at room temperature for up to four days.
Mold on bananas is fuzzy white, gray, or greenish—it looks a lot like mold on bread. If a banana smells rotten or fermented or is leaking fluid, it's time to say goodbye. If the fruit inside, not just the peel, is black, that's a sign that your banana is too far gone to safely eat.
Sugars are hygroscopic, meaning they attract water. Within baked goods, sugars help maintain a moist and tender crumb. Sugar on the exposed tops, however, will grab water from humid air, creating a wet or sticky top.
Once the banana bread is done, it's necessary to let it sit in the baking pan for about 15 minutes and then transfer it to a plate where it will sit for a while longer.
As the outlet notes, if you realized you put too much baking powder in your recipe the moment you poured it into your dry ingredients, you can simply remove it with a spoon. After removing all traces of the leavening agent, you can measure out the ingredient more accurately and carefully add in the correct amount.
Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) is the raising agent and this can sometimes taste bitter or soapy if the wrong quantity is used. Make sure that you measure the bicarbonate of soda with a proper 1 teaspoon/5ml measuring spoon and the spoon measurement should be level.
Baking soda becomes activated when it's combined with both an acidic ingredient and a liquid. Upon activation, carbon dioxide is produced, which allows baked goods to rise and become light and fluffy (1).
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:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/437365-45ee0198a8c04d268ff926e63ed1334a.jpg "6 Little Mistakes That Could Ruin Your Banana Bread (1)")
