Banana Bread (Whole-Grain)

Preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the center position. Lightly grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan; if your pan is glass or stoneware, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

In a large bowl, stir together the mashed banana, oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Weigh your flours; you’ll find their weight by toggling to “ounces” at the top of the ingredient section above. Or measure them by gently spooning them into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Mix the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and chopped walnuts into the banana mixture. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix again to thoroughly combine the ingredients.

Scoop the batter into the prepared pan. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the batter.

Bake the bread for about 60 to 75 minutes, until the bread feels set on the top, and a paring knife (or other thin knife) inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs (but no wet batter). If the bread appears to be browning too quickly, tent it with aluminum foil for the final 15 to 20 minutes of baking. Note: If baking in a glass or stoneware pan, increase the baking time by 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove the bread from the oven. Cool it in the pan for 15 minutes, then loosen the edges, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely.

Store leftover bread, tightly wrapped, at room temperature for several days. Freeze for longer storage.

TIPS FROM OUR BAKERS

If you enjoy this bread and want to try a 100% whole wheat loaf, go for it! Simply substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour listed, no further changes necessary. Want to go the other way? Substitute all-purpose flour for the whole wheat flour for a 100% all-purpose flour loaf.

Prefer butter to vegetable oil? Substitute 2/3 cup melted butter for the 1/2 cup vegetable oil.

If you'd like to reduce the fat in this recipe, try any of these substitutions, which will yield a loaf very similar in texture and moistness to the original:

1/4 cup applesauce for 1/4 cup of the vegetable oil

1/4 cup yogurt (full-fat, reduced-fat, or nonfat) for 1/4 cup of the vegetable oil

1/2 cup full-fat yogurt for all of the vegetable oil

Want to lower the fat even further? Substitute applesauce or yogurt (full-fat, reduced-fat, or nonfat) for all of the vegetable oil. Understand that the resulting loaf’s texture will be notably less tender.

Want to reduce the sugar in this recipe? Start by lowering it by 25% (from 1 cup to 3/4 cup); the bread will (obviously) be less sweet, and also a bit less tender.

We love the slightly caramelized flavor brown sugar lends this loaf, but if all you have on hand is white granulated sugar — use it: 1 cup, same amount as the brown sugar. Or use 1/3 cup liquid sweetener (honey, agave, or maple syrup) + 1/2 cup brown sugar; increase the amount of all-purpose flour by 2 tablespoons if you make this substitution.

Transition this recipe to gluten-free the easy way: substitute King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour for both the the all-purpose and whole wheat flours in this recipe; no other changes needed.