Banana Bread

This is a recipe addapted from Tartine. I had remembered seeing a banana date “tea cake” in the book and thinking to myself that the ingredients were almost identical to a standard banana bread. But a little voice in my head said if it is good enough for Tartine, something must be special about it. While the flavor improves with time, the texture does not. But that shouldn't matter, it will be gone in a day!

This recipe contains all-purpose flour, cornstarch, ground cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, bananas, eggs, vanilla extract, salt, unsalted butter, sugar, , chopped walnuts, dates, , bananas, sugar

9"x5" loaf servings

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 1 hr

Ingredients:

• 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 medium bananas, very ripe, mashed
• 2 large eggs
• 11/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, very soft
• 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar
• Optional mix-ins:
• 1 cup walnuts, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped
• 1 3/4 cups (about 8 oz.) dates, pitted and coarsely chopped
• Topping
• 1 medium banana
• 2 Tablespoons sugar

Instructions:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 325º F. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
• 2. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, corn starch, cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl
• 3. Add butter, eggs, and vanilla extract and mix until almost all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
• 4. Add mashed bananas and mix until everything is homogenous.
• 5. Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula to level it.
• 6. Slice the banana for the topping very thinly on a bias and place on top the batter in an appealing pattern. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
• 7. Bake at 325º F for about an hour, or until the bread starts to pull away from the pan on the sides or a tooth pick test comes out clean.