Banana-Walnut-Cinnamon Bread - A Perfect Friend

Banana-Walnut-Cinnamon Bread – A Perfect Friend

January 7, 2013

The first time i had a banana bread was from oven of Erika- as some of you must know her by now, she is a dear friend from Japan. We became friends at a Yoga class in our apartment building in Bangkok. She is a perfect friend- the kindest of people I have known in my life. I can’t thank her enough for all the good memories. I have explored half the city of Bangkok with her. We went to doll museum, climbed the steep stairs of Wat Arun, had hundred cups of Japanese tea together, took oriental painting and Thai pottery painting classes, tried out different cheese cakes, cooked each other our home cuisines, introduced each other of our cultures… I can just keep on writing. She sends me post cards and gifts even now from wherever she goes, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, and of course Bangkok. I will never be able to thank her enough for her kindness or return her in any little way.

She is also an amazing cook. I have never had better chocolate chip cookies, or banana bread or a better shrimp burger then the one made by Erika! One person whom I can follow around the globe!

So this one is for Erika. I wish you all the happiness for this year and always.

On my random trot on the internet looking for inspirations for my blog, I found Smitten Kitchen- an amazing blogger. I used her recipe of banana bread and tweaked it a bit by adding walnuts and more cinnamon. The bread turned out moist from inside and it also has a great crust! Since I am not a fan of white flour because of its health disadvantages, I used half and half of flour i.e. mixing white flour with wheat flour.

Banana Walnut Bread

Recipe: Banana Walnut Cinnamon Bread

Ingredients

2 ripe medium sized Bananas (use three if you have small bananas)
1.5 cups flour (You can also use half and half of wheat flour and white flour- to make it a healthy version!)
1.5 tsp Cinnamon powder
4 tbsp Butter (melted)
1 egg (beaten)
1.5 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup brown sugar (If you are using half a half of whole flour and white flour- you can use a cup of brown sugar)
1.5 tsp Vanilla Essence
1/2 cup crushed walnuts
Bread Baking Tin
Banana Walnut Bread

Instructions

Preheat the oven at 170C- with both grills on
In a bowl, mash the bananas with a fork.
Add melted butter and mix
Add cinnamon, sugar, walnuts, vanilla essence.
Add flour and baking powder.
Add beaten egg and mix well with a wooden spatula till smooth.
If the mixture becomes too thick add a tbsp of milk.
Grease the tin with butter.
Pour batter in the tin and smooth it ensuring no air bubbles are formed.
Place the tin in the oven.
Let it bake for 40-45 minutes at 170 C
Test if the bread is fully cooked by using a knife. If knife comes out clean your bread is ready. If not let it bake for another 10 minutes.
Take out the bread tin from oven and let it cool.
Take the bread out of the tin and slice it with a sharp knife/bread knife.
Serve it warm with coffee.
If it appears a little soggy- slice it and leave it open for the moisture to escape.
You can also store it in fridge and warm it later.