Banana Apple Bread

I cannot tell you how often we have overly ripe bananas. So for today's batch we are doing something a little different than the normal banana bread.

Banana Apple Bread

Things you'll need:

For the apples:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract


For the bread:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
¼ cup fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups very ripe mashed bananas (2 to 3)

• Preheat your oven to 350
• Lightly butter and flour your 1 1/2 quart loaf pan
• Preheat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter and brown sugar and heat until bubbling.
• Add the apples and cinnamon and sauté until golden and tender, about 5 minutes. 
• Stir in the vanilla. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. 
• Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• In a small bowl, combine the orange juice and vanilla.
• Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three batches, alternating with the orange juice mixture, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each flour addition. 
• Stir in the mashed bananas until combined. 
• Then stir in the reserved apples.
• Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. 
• Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Remove to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes before unmolding onto the rack to cool further.

*Tips for the apples: Instead of chopping both, I chop one (in very small chunks) and shred the other on a box grater. The chopped apple still gives you the interesting texture and bites of tender caramelized appley goodness, while the shredded apple sort of melts into the bread and adds to its incredible moisture. I still saute both in the butter and brown sugar, and add any accumulated juices from the shredded apple. Beware of stirring in apple chunks that are too large- their weight causes them to sink to the bottom of the batter, and you end up with an apple layer of sorts at the base of the loaf. Still delicious, but not ideal- to have it well distributed, make sure your apple chunks stay pretty dainty!

*Tips for the bananas: I recommend using the measured amount rather than just 2 or 3. I always seem to need more bananas to make the required measurement than are recommended (and I don’t think my bananas are particularly small). You definitely don’t want to skimp on this central ingredient for the overall flavor of your finished loaf!

If the bread starts to get stale toast it and put some butter on it. It pairs great with coffee and tea!