How wonderful it is to wake up in the morning, smelling the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the kitchen still flooded with the fragrance of this moist and very soft plumcake prepared the night before! There is no more desirable breakfast than this in my opinion! Its name evokes Anglo-Saxon origins, but it has also become very popular here in Italy, so much so that there are really few people who have not had the pleasure of meeting it. Yes, because a dessert like this deserves to be tasted at least once, just as its recipe deserves to be shared and spread profusely! The banana bread in fact, thanks to a base of simple and genuine ingredients such as flour, eggs, butter, bananas, yogurt, and cinnamon, is a dessert that tastes like home and stays moist and soft inside in a way that will make you want to prepare it again. And so I offer it to you in a whole wheat version with the addition of a handful of walnuts to further enrich it and also ensure a daily dose of omega-3 fatty acids that we know do so much for your health! I don’t want to add anything else because I believe the images speak for themselves! And for now, they have to be enough, even if I hope that sooner or later someone invents a technological means to transfer the intense and aromatic scent!
If like me, you love to indulge yourself with some genuine pantry cakes, here are some other ideas to draw inspiration from:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: pan 12×4 inches
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: British
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer and Autumn
Ingredients
⚠ THIS RECIPE CONTAINS ONE OR MORE AFFILIATE LINKS. The products I recommend are the same ones I use in my recipes; buying them through my blog helps support me and my work, while it won’t cost you anything extra!
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2/3 cup raw cane sugar
- 1/2 cup plain natural yogurt
- 2 eggs
- 2 bananas (ripe)
- 1/3 cup peanut oil
- 1/2 cup walnut kernels (chopped + 2 whole for decoration)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- as needed powdered sugar
- squares ground cinnamon
Tools
- Electric hand mixer
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Fork
- 1 Container
- 1 Sieve
- 1 Knife
- 1 Plumcake pan
- 1 Baking mat
Preparation
Peel 2 ripe bananas, cut one in half, divide one into two parts lengthwise* and set aside in the fridge for the final decoration. Transfer the rest to a bowl.
Mash very well with the prongs of a fork.
You should get a homogeneous and creamy mixture.
Separately, whip the eggs with the brown sugar until they become light and frothy.
Gradually add the oil while continuing to whip, then incorporate the banana and yogurt smoothie.
Gradually incorporate the previously sifted powders, namely whole wheat flour and baking powder, mixing always with the mixer.
When the mixture is well blended, add the salt and flavor with cinnamon.
Finally, add the previously ground walnuts with a mixer and mix with the spatula.
Transfer the mixture into a previously buttered and floured loaf pan or, as I did, with a recyclable teflon sheet, garnish with the 2 halves of the halved banana set aside and the whole walnuts on top, without submerging them. Bake in a preheated static oven at 375°F for about 20′, then lower the temperature to 350°F and continue baking for another 20′. Check often because times vary from oven to oven and in any case, the toothpick test** will always be the reference.
After the baking time, remove from the oven and let the banana bread with walnuts cool before removing it from the mold. Sprinkle with cinnamon and powdered sugar to taste.
And voilà… the whole wheat banana bread with walnuts is ready to be enjoyed!
Bon Appétit from La Cucina di FeFè!
Storage
👉 You can store your whole wheat banana bread with walnuts at room temperature under a glass dome or in a food container for 1-2 days at most. Then, I recommend storing it in the fridge to avoid mold formation on the banana surface especially if the outside temperatures are particularly high.
Tips
🟣*The decoration on top is very personal, for example, the first time I garnished with half a banana cut lengthwise all whole (photo above), so choose based on your flair, the important thing is to arrange the banana slices and walnuts in the mixture without sinking too much.
🟣** As mentioned above, it is necessary to check the baking to also avoid that the plum-cake darkens too much on the surface. If this happens, cover the top with a sheet of baking paper for the last 10′-15′ of cooking. Then remove the sheet and check the exact baking condition with a toothpick.
🟣You can serve this dessert accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Sublime!
