What up! I'm writing to you today from Seattle, Washington! I've been here since yesterday. I'm here for work, but I had most of the day yesterday to venture out and about. The amount of exploring going forward will be limited, but these next few days are going to be awesome nonetheless.
I'm here for PAX! You might know my full-time gig outside of food blogging is working in video games. I work at Harmonix and we make music games! I came out to Seattle to show off Rock Band 4 at the convention and I'm excited. I work in design, but I get to travel with the publishers every once in a while to help show off the cool things we're working on. I'm actually a very anxious person and can sometimes get a bit over-heated when around lots and lots of people, but when it comes to working at conventions these when thousands of people are in attendance, I somehow don't get anxious. I'm so happy about talking to fans of our games that the energy I feel is just pure excitedness and none of the anxious stuff. It's pretty awesome.
Even though I'll be super busy out here the next few days (I fly back to Boston on Tuesday), I wasn't going to leave you hanging! Today's recipe is one of my favorite baked goods: maple-spiced banana bread.
Whenever I've made banana bread in the past, it was a simple batter made with a lot of sugar. That's pretty much the standard anyway. I've been baking banana bread for years and it's one of the baked goods I feel good about (I tend to not experiment with baked goods nearly as much as I'd like because science). I recently started tweaking the recipe so that I wasn't dumping 1-2 cups of sugar in it. I love sugar and have a huge sweet tooth, but that doesn't mean every sweet or baked good has to be pumped with all the sugar. So I added in maple syrup! And I brought the sugar itself down to a third of a cup. I also always include cinnamon, but decided to add cardamom! And thus, maple-spiced banana bread was born. I'm into it.
I go somewhat heavy on the amount of overripe bananas - I use four, which makes this banana bread so moist and delicious. I had some friends try it last week and got thumbs up all around, so I'd say this recipe is a win.
If you want to keep up with me on my work-trip in Seattle, follow me on instagram or twitter! I'm also on facebook, but I don't post as much there. I find facebook feeds are better with less post-saturation!
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- 4 overripe bananas
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled (I use grass-fed)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x5 bread pan.
- Add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom to a large bowl and mix to combine.
- In a medium size bowl, mash the banana. Add in the eggs, vanilla, sugar, maple syrup, and butter. Mix until well blended.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Pour into the greased bread pan and bake in the oven for 50-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Hi Marissa! I love banana bread! Your inclusion of maple syrup sounds great! I have a friend who brings me Georgia pecans and ripe bananas on a regular basis so that I will make him banana bread! He and his sister spend most of the winter in FL and I have to ship it to them so they don't feel deprived! He also shows up with ground beef when he wants goulash! Hey, what are friends for! Glad you're enjoying your trip!
Hi Dorothy! That all sounds great! I'm enjoying the trip, thanks! Seattle seems like a great city, though I'm spending most of my time inside a convention center. I'm glad I got a day to explore a bit!
Looks so super moist!! Stumbled on your blog through twitter. So happy I did and also to see a fellow Boston blogger! Can't wait to read more!
Thanks, Heather! It seems Boston bloggers are rare to find; I'm so glad for Twitter! I have a ridiculous sweet tooth and your posts always make me hungry. 🙂
Hi from a fellow Boston food blogger. The banana bread recipe looks delicious - can't wait to try it!
Thanks! Yay for more Boston bloggers! Nice to meet you, Lisa. 🙂
I just love banana bread.. Feel like having a slice right away from the bread here.
Thanks, Shobha! I might be making more this weekend. Come on over for some! 😀
Banana bread is so traditionally loved, I don't think it will ever get old. This is going to have to be a recipe I try, especially because of the maple!
Agreed, Whitney! It's a classic, for sure.
Oh, the combination of maple and bananas is just incredible! That sounds so good!
Thanks, Chris! I'm a huge fan of the combo myself!
Now that is what I call a most delicious looking banana bread. Mine never looks as good as that, so I think I'd better bookmark this and give it a go next time I have a load of over ripe bananas.
Thanks for your kind words, Choclette! I'd love to know how it comes out if you make it!
Oh yummy. I love banana bread and the use of maple syrup and spices sounds wonderful. Definitely one I'd like to give a try.
Thanks, Emily! Using maple syrup as a semi sugar substitute in some things has become a recent favorite of mine.
Marissa, I love banana bread. Totally traditional recipe but a nice spin with the maple syrup. I will be cooking this! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Mark! I love it too and I don't make it as much as I'd like because I can easily eat a whole loaf. Though, maybe that's not a terrible thing. 😀
Can I substitute another flour to make it also ? If so what kind would you recommend ?
Hi Kathi! I have done a 1:1 almond flour substitute for all-purpose in the past with tasty results, though keep in mind the bread will be denser. I haven't tried subbing other flours for this recipe, so I'm not sure what else might work. I hope that helps and let me know how it turns out if you make it!
That was paleo