What can I say – there are many recipes for delicious banana bread out there… and then there are »recipes for absolutely perfect and ultra-extremely delicious« banana breads. This Banana Bread with Caramelized Bananas definitely belongs in the latter category. If you’ve never tried caramelizing bananas before using them in a banana bread recipe, you’ve truly been missing out! We’ll probably never bake any other banana bread again after this one…
We’ve baked a lot of banana breads over the years – more than 10 different recipes have already made it to the blog. That’s not even counting all the variations like muffins, scones, cookies, and so on. But honestly? This banana bread here beats all the others. Though we probably should not say that too loudly… the other recipes here on the blog are still excellent and certainly worth trying too. ;P
By the way – while this text is being written, the next banana bread is already in the oven… this time with chocolate and cashews. Sounds pretty good too, right? That kind of disproves what I said in the first paragraph – yes, we’re still testing other recipes after all! ;P If it turns out well, you’ll certainly see it added to the banana bread collection here on the blog at some point in the future.
Anyway. The special thing about this banana bread is definitely the caramelized bananas. This means that the bananas are briefly pan-fried with a bit of sugar and butter before being added to the batter. This creates roasting flavors and a bit of caramel, which makes the banana bread especially tasty.
You could actually add this little extra step to pretty much any banana bread recipe, if you wanted to. You might need to adjust the recipe slightly if the bananas lose too much moisture during caramelization… but that’s easily done by adding a bit more liquid to the batter or using slightly more banana than you would normally use.
The recipe also mentions mini bananas for the decoration. Unfortunately, you can’t really see them in the pictures – they sank into the batter during baking and ended up at the bottom of the banana bread. The batter wasn’t quite firm enough to hold the bananas on top. So theoretically, you can skip those bananas altogether… maybe it works better with full-sized bananas. We’ll have to try that sometime. Never happened before that the bananas on top disappeared like that. ;P
Well… don’t worry – we do have banana bread recipes where the banana decoration on top actually works beautifully. Our Banana Bread with Chocolate & Walnuts is a great example. It’s a true classic and definitely worth baking. The same goes for our Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl. Think of it as a banana bread that meets a cheesecake – absolutely delicious!
Auch gibt es niemanden, der den Schmerz an sich liebt, sucht oder wünscht, nur, weil er Schmerz ist, es sei denn, es kommt zu zufälligen Umständen, in denen Mühen und Schmerz ihm große Freude bereiten können. Um ein triviales Beispiel zu nehmen, wer von uns unterzieht sich je anstrengender körperlicher Betätigung, außer um Vorteile daraus zu ziehen?
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
For the caramelized bananas:
A little butter for caramelizing
3 large bananas, halved lengthwise
1-2 tablespoons sugar
For the dough:
100g brown sugar
50g sugar
2 eggs (L), room temperature
120g butter, melted
200g flour (type 405)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
120g sour cream, room temperature
3 tbsp dark rum
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 mini bananas, halved (optional)
A little brown sugar (optional)
Für die karamellisierten Bananen:
etwas Butter zum Karamellisieren
3 große Bananen, längs halbiert
1-2 EL Zucker
Für den Teig:
100g brauner Zucker
50g Zucker
2 Eier (L), Zimmertemperatur
120g Butter, geschmolzen
200g Mehl (Type 405)
1 TL Backpulver
1 TL Natron
1/2 TL Salz
1/4 TL Zimt
120g Schmand, Zimmertemperatur
3 EL dunkler Rum
1 TL Vanille Extrakt
2 Mini-Bananen, halbiert (optional)
etwas brauner Zucker (optional)
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Caramelize the bananas first. Heat up a nonstick frying pan with some butter. Peel the bananas, cut them in half lengthwise, and sprinkle them with some brown sugar on the cut sides. Place the banana halves in the hot butter with the sugared side facing down and allow them to caramelize for a few minutes. The bananas should take on a nice golden brown color, but not turn black. Remove the bananas from the heat and add them to a small bowl. Let cool down for a moment, then mash them with a fork or something similar. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Lightly grease a 9×5 inches loaf tin* and line with some baking parchment. Set aside.
3. Add both sugars and the eggs to a large bowl and mix on high for a few minutes until very light and fluffy. Next, add the melted butter and stir in. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add these dry ingredients to the bowl and fold them in with a rubber spatula. Mix the mashed bananas with sour cream, rum, and vanilla extract, then add to the bowl and fold in as well.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and smooth out the top. If desired, place halved mini bananas on top of the batter and sprinkle with some coarse brown sugar (optional). Bake the banana bread for about 50-60 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the banana bread from the oven and let it cool down for some time inside the baking tin, then lift it out using the baking parchment and let it cool down completely on a wire rack.
Note: The mini bananas are optional. Depending on how the banana bread is feeling on baking day, they can sink to the bottom – as you can see in the pictures. It doesn’t really matter, though, even on the bottom of the banana bread the mini bananas taste great! ;P
1. Als Erstes die Bananen karamellisieren – dazu eine beschichtete Pfanne mit etwas Butter erhitzen. Die Bananen schälen, längs halbieren und dann auf den Schnittkanten mit etwas braunem Zucker bestreuen. Die Bananenhälften mit der gezuckerten Seite nach unten in die heiße Butter legen und für einige Minuten karamellisieren lassen. Die Bananen sollen schön Farbe bekommen, aber nicht schwarz werden. Aus der Pfanne herausnehmen und in eine kleine Schüssel geben. Kurz abkühlen lassen, dann mit einer Gabel o.ä. zerdrücken. Zur Seite stellen.
2. Den Ofen auf 180°C (350°F) Ober-/Unterhitze vorheizen. Eine etwa 23x12cm Kastenform* leicht einfetten und mit Backpapier auslegen. Zur Seite stellen.
3. Beide Zuckersorten und die Eier in einer großen Schüssel einige Minuten hell und luftig aufschlagen. Die geschmolzene Butter dazugeben und gut unterrühren. Mehl mit Backpulver, Natron, Salz und Zimt vermengen, dann zur Schüssel dazugeben und mit einem Gummispatel unterheben. Die zerdrückten Bananen mit Schmand, Rum und Vanille Extrakt vermengen und ebenfalls zur Schüssel dazugeben und unterheben.
4. Den Teig in die vorbereitete Form füllen und glatt streichen. Wer mag, kann noch halbierte Mini-Bananen auf den Teig legen und mit etwas braunem Zucker bestreuen (optional). Das Bananenbrot für 50-60 Minuten backen. Mit einem Holzspieß testen, ob noch Teig kleben bleibt und das Bananenbrot erst herausholen, wenn dieses sauber herauskommt. Das fertige Bananenbrot aus dem Ofen nehmen, einige Zeit in der Form abkühlen lassen, dann mithilfe des Backpapiers aus der Form heben und auf einem Kuchengitter komplett auskühlen lassen.
Hinweis: Die Mini-Bananen sind optional. Je nachdem, wie das Bananenbrot drauf ist, sinken die auch gerne mal nach unten – so wie auf den Fotos. Ist im Grunde egal, da sie auch auf der Unterseite des Bananenbrots schmecken. ;P
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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Banana Bread with Caramelized Bananas
- Prep Time: 00:30
- Cook Time: 01:00
- Total Time: 01:30
- Yield: 1
- Category: Cakes
- Cuisine: International
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This is seriously the best banana bread in the world – this Banana Bread with Caramelized Bananas is simply the best! The whole family loves it!
Ingredients
For the caramelized bananas:
A little butter for caramelizing
3 large bananas, halved lengthwise
1-2 tablespoons sugar
For the dough:
100g brown sugar
50g sugar
2 eggs (L), room temperature
120g butter, melted
200g flour (type 405)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
120g sour cream, room temperature
3 tbsp dark rum
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 mini bananas, halved (optional)
A little brown sugar (optional)
Instructions
1. Caramelize the bananas first. Heat up a nonstick frying pan with some butter. Peel the bananas, cut them in half lengthwise, and sprinkle them with some brown sugar on the cut sides. Place the banana halves in the hot butter with the sugared side facing down and allow them to caramelize for a few minutes. The bananas should take on a nice golden brown color, but not turn black. Remove the bananas from the heat and add them to a small bowl. Let cool down for a moment, then mash them with a fork or something similar. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Lightly grease a 9×5 inches loaf tin* and line with some baking parchment. Set aside.
3. Add both sugars and the eggs to a large bowl and mix on high for a few minutes until very light and fluffy. Next, add the melted butter and stir in. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add these dry ingredients to the bowl and fold them in with a rubber spatula. Mix the mashed bananas with sour cream, rum, and vanilla extract, then add to the bowl and fold in as well.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and smooth out the top. If desired, place halved mini bananas on top of the batter and sprinkle with some coarse brown sugar (optional). Bake the banana bread for about 50-60 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the banana bread from the oven and let it cool down for some time inside the baking tin, then lift it out using the baking parchment and let it cool down completely on a wire rack.
Notes
The mini bananas are optional. Depending on how the banana bread is feeling on baking day, they can sink to the bottom – as you can see in the pictures. It doesn’t really matter, though, even on the bottom of the banana bread the mini bananas taste great! ;P
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I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
