For anyone that knows me well, knows that I absolutely cannot stand Bananas. The smell is enough to set waves of nausea in me. So when my husband asked for banana bread, I knew that I couldn’t just make any old banana bread – it had to be Boujee Banana Bread.
This recipe is honestly so luxe. I use a combination of dark chocolate chips, Dutch process cocoa powder, rum (oh yes, I used Captain Morgan), ripe bananas (of course).
Then there is more! I make a rich walnut and butterscotch streusel topping which after baking in the oven gives the bread a really delicious crunchy finish with little gooey chunks – so so so good!
Let’s talk about Banana Bread
It is said Banana Bread first gained popularity during the great depression resulting from scarce resources and wish to make fresh ingredients go above and beyond their shelf life. The first documented recipe appeared in 1933 when Pillsbury published “Balanced Recipes“.
Today Banana Bread is a café favourite. I cannot think of anything more iconic than a really thick slice of Banana Bread, toasted and served with whipped butter. I think most households has a family recipe that gets passed down. With COVID-19 lockdowns, the popularity of making banana bread at home rapidly rose to record levels in 2020. Instagram and Facebook were flooded with users sharing their banana bread journeys.
I have to admit that I didn’t follow the trend.
Until now.
Bananas
Banana bread obviously requires bananas. But what should these bananas look like? How ripe should they be?
Ideally you want almost blackened bananas, with plenty of dark spots. The banana should be smelly – I mean the smell should make you a little sick (or a lot sick if you are like me!). The fruit should be easily mashed into a pulp, without a lot of effort.
The best way to ripen bananas if you have only managed to purchase bright yellow bananas is to keep them on the counter in a bowl for a couple of days. The exposure and room temperature will help to develop the color quicker. Often fruit grocers sell ripened bananas a little bit cheaper because they need to get rid of that stock – if you aren’t sure, simply ask them!?
Cocoa powder OR Dutch Process Cocoa powder
To make this banana bread super luxurious, I used Dutch Process Cocoa for this recipe because I personally think the stronger, bitter flavour yields a far superior result in this sort of recipe. This is especially true when pairing the chocolate with strong flavours like banana and rum.
Essentially, Dutch Process cocoa is alkalized cocoa powder which results in an acidic and much deeper flavour of cocoa. The color of the resulting powder is also darker. If you cannot find yourself some Dutch Process cocoa, you could use regular cocoa instead.
For more information you can read this very detailed article by Sally from Sally’s Baking Addiction
Butterscotch chips
Okay, I have something important to say about this. Why can’t I buy regular butterscotch chips like normal chocolate chips or Reese’s peanut butter chips in grocery stores in Australia? Or am I missing something here?
I used Gran’s English Toffee Fudge Bites as a substitute for proper Butterscotch, and boy did it work well! You want to go for a fudgy toffee or caramel. Don’t use eclairs or hard toffee – they simply won’t give you that fudge like result in the streusel.
<script async src=”https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4738482535441982″ crossorigin=”anonymous”></script> <!– Header/Footer Ad –> <ins class=”adsbygoogle” style=”display:block” data-ad-client=”ca-pub-4738482535441982″ data-ad-slot=”3630013818″ data-ad-format=”auto” data-full-width-responsive=”true”></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script>
How to make Boujee Banana Bread?
So now that we have these ingredients ready, the process really is very very simple.
The component to prepare is the streusel. To do this start with really cold butter. I mean fresh from the fridge and difficult to slice butter. Cut this into small pieces and rub it into the dry streusel ingredients (minus the butterscotch) until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
If the butter heats up during this process, it’s okay. Slightly overworked butter is not the end of the world. If the butter gets soft though, I recommend putting the bowl into the fridge for 10 minutes to harden again. Continue this until you achieve that breadcrumb consistency, and then finally mix in the butterscotch chips.
For the banana bread itself, start by combining the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt) in one bowl. In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients in stages. First the butter and sugar, then eggs, followed by the banana, rum and vanilla. Make sure you mix everything really well in between each stage!
Boujee Banana Bread
Equipment
- Loaf tin
- Oven
- Whisk
- Electric mixer or Stand Mixer or spatula
Ingredients
Banana Bread
- 2 cups mashed ripe bananas this is about 3-4 bananas
- 150 g plain flour
- 25 g Dutch process cocoa powder
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda sodium bicarbonate
- 115 g butter softened, at room temperature
- 150 g brown sugar
- 70 g chopped walnuts
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 85 g chopped dark chocolate chunks dark chocolate chips are also okay
- 75 mL rum or bourbon whiskey
Streusel Topping
- 50 g brown sugar
- 40 g plain flour
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 50 g cold butter
- 75 g butterscotch chips
Instructions
Prepare the Streusel
- Combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon in a small to medium sized bowl
- Cut the butter into small pieces and then add it to the flour bowl
- Use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles crumbs (it is okay if the butter gets a bit overworked, but if the butter is too soft place the bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes before progressing)
- Add in the butterscotch chips and combine well. Set this aside
Prepare the Banana bread
- Pre-heat the oven to 170°C/340°F and prepare a loaf tin with baking paper and butter
- In a bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and cocoa powder
- In a different large bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. This will take 2-3 minutes
- Add in the eggs and beat well, one at a time until combined well
- Add in the mashed bananas and vanilla extract and beat until well combined
- Add the rum and gently fold into the banana mixture
- Add ¼ cup of the dry flour mixture to the banana mixture at a time and gently fold through. Once combine well, add another ¼ cup of the dry flour mixture. Continue until all the flour has been added
- Now fold in the walnuts and chocolate until just combined
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and gently tap to ensure the batter spread across the tin well
- Use a small spoon to spread across the prepared streusel topping to cover the entire surface of the banana bread batter in the loaf tin
- Place the banana bread in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes or so, until the top is beautifully golden and an inserted toothpick or skewer comes out clean-ish (remembering that this is a fairly fudgy banana bread and the butterscotch will be sticky!)
- Remove the banana bread from the oven, then from the loaf tin and let it rest on a cooling rack for at least 20 minutes. Serve warm in thick slices
As always I hope you love my recipe. This one is probably one I was most nervous to try because of the banana – but you know what, even I enjoyed it! The banana flavour is incredibly subtle and the rum and cocoa really mask the intensity.
Trust me when I see this is true luxury all baked into a beautiful bread.
Share your recipe attempts with me @theminiaturelife on Instagram
