New Video: Banana Bread with Nutella Swirls

Plus, What to Bake This Weekend & Tiramisu!

I’ve spread Nutella on just about everything, but one of my favorites is freshly baked banana bread. In an “aha! moment” I decided to swirl the Nutella right into the batter and bake them together. I’m not claiming to have discovered this combo, but I believe this may be the tastiest pairing ever there was. I now always make two loaves of Nutella swirled banana bread, otherwise it disappears too quickly. One we eat while it is still warm and a bit gooey, the other sits for breakfast the next day. It is magnificent and super simple to make.

Tips for Great Banana Bread

• Use SUPER ripe yellow bananas with lots of brown spots on them. That’s when they have the most flavor. Never use green bananas in banana bread.

• You can peel and freeze ripe bananas if you have too many that are getting too ripe. When they thaw they’ll look brown and gross and soupy but they work very well and taste great in banana bread.

• I prefer to mash the bananas with a potato masher instead of pureeing them so you get little chunks of banana. It’s up to you whether you puree or mash them. When you mash you want it to mostly be mush, but with some bigger pieces of banana in there. It should be almost turning to liquid. If they’re ripe enough it will happen pretty quickly.

• I discovered that I really liked swapping buttermilk for whole milk in this recipe.

• I use baking powder and baking soda in this recipe because bananas are heavy and I don’t want the bread to be dense, I want it to have a nice lift to it.

• Grease your loaf pan with baking spray (or butter) then add a parchment paper sling to ensure you can easily remove the bread from the pan. Use metal clips to hold the parchment paper down while you pour the batter into the pan, but be sure to remove the clips before baking.

• Place your loaf pan on a baking sheet when you put it in the oven so the bottom doesn’t over-bake.

• When you think your banana bread may be done, start by tapping it in the oven to make sure it’s not jiggling. When you remove it from the oven, test with a cake tester, toothpick, or skewer in the very center of the bread. Ovens vary, so bake times are always just a suggestion.

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What to Bake This Weekend

• It’s all about bananas this week! Have you made my banana pudding yet for Zoë’s Baking Academy? Be sure to send in your photo to stephani@zoebakes.com or tag me on Instagram or Facebook for a chance to win! DETAILS HERE.

• If bananas aren’t your thing, how about chocolate?! Choose from cakes, brownies, pies, and more.

• Did you know homemade graham crackers are easy to make? You can bake them for snacks or use them in your favorite pie crust or cheesecake recipe!

If you’ve recently made one of my recipes, please be sure to leave a rating and review!

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Tiramisu

Layers of espresso sponge cake, soaked with boozy coffee, dusted with cocoa, sprinkled with shaved chocolate and smothered in rich mascarpone custard is how every meal I had in Venice ended. Each restaurant, family and bakery serves a slight variation but they’re all delicious in their own way. All dreamy.