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Let's start this recipe off with a declaration: I hate pineapple. Well, I sort of hate pineapple. I would always pick it off pizza and eat around it in fruit salads, but in recent years, pineapple fritters and piña coladas have convinced me that pineapple has merit. In flavour pairings, I've grown to love pineapple, so we've put our differences aside for this new banana bread recipe.
This delicious loaf calls for a pinch of cinnamon, inspired by the Brazilian style of grilling pineapple. Just to make this recipe even better, it's totally oil free - but still dense, moist and really easy to demolish in one sitting. With a slab of dairy-free butter. Alone. The way banana bread was intended to be consumed. I've added in crushed walnuts because it's a sin to make banana bread without walnuts. Add in orange zest if you're feeling frisky. The only rule is to make sure your bananas are so black that they're ready for a priest to deliver their last rites. This tropical take on banana bread, without the fat and with some extra festivity, will inspire you to start changing up your staple banana bread recipe with some extra fun.
PINEAPPLE BANANA BREAD
Oil free. 10 minutes prep. 1hr 15min baking time.
INGREDIENTS
440g can of pineapple slices in juice
4 super ripe, blackened bananas (ideally just seconds away from decomposing)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (vanilla essence cannot be subbed for extract 1:1 - if you must use essence, add 1.5-2 teaspoons)
1 + 3/4 cup wholemeal or white flour
1/2 cup raw or white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup crushed walnut pieces
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
METHOD
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and set aside a bread tin lined with baking paper.
In a large bowl, mash the bananas.
Remove 6 of the pineapple slices, chop into halves or quarters (for the top of the bread) and set aside. Chop, mash or quickly pulse the remaining slices with the juice and measure out 1 + 1/3 cup of this into the bowl with the mashed banana.
Add and combine the cinnamon, sugar and vanilla.
Add the flour (sifted), salt, walnuts, baking powder and soda. Combine.
Pour mixture into prepared baking pan and level with a spatula. Add the chopped pineapple pieces on top, pushing into the batter slightly. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon, before putting the tin into the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove, allow to cool, photograph, eat, digest, crave more, make another loaf and enjoy!
TIPS
For the easiest way to cut banana bread: chuck it in the fridge for an hour once it's cooled enough, turn the bread on its side, and slice it with a serrated bread knife.
