Caramelized Banana Bread

I recently discovered that the secret to richly flavored banana bread is to roast your bananas until their natural sugars caramelize and their flavor becomes concentrated goodness. I use coconut oil because it’s less work than butter and its lack of water content means less risk of the bread drying out in the oven. But you can use butter if you prefer the flavor.
This is a small loaf that comes out very sticky and a bit oily. I like it that way. Maximum moistness. Sorry for saying moist. Oh, I said moist again. Sorry. Moist.

….Moist

Some more notes- a Silpat is key in this method because you’ll want to scrape up the roasted banana juice (?) to incorporate into the bread. This is the caramelized bit.

Also, I highly recommend ordering cinnamon from Burlap and Barrel. They aren’t paying me, I am just a huge fangirl and this cinnamon changed my life. It is a flavor you never thought would be possible.
If when I say “fold the batter” you’re having a David from Schitt’s Creek moment, fold means to scoop the batter with a spoon or spatula from the bottom of the bowl and flip the bottom batter over the top. How to fold batter.

Caramelized Banana Bread

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup refined sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
Vanilla extract, measure with your heart
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Equipment:

Baking tray
Silicon mat
Prepared loaf pan (greased with butter or oil and dusted in flour)
Whisk
Spatula
Mixing bowl

Slices of sticky, rich banana bread

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the peeled bananas to a tray with a silicon mat on it. Bake the bananas for 20-30 minutes, until they are brown and smell toasty. There should be some caramelized sugary bits on the mat.

  2. Add the bananas to a mixing bowl. Scrape up all the caramelized juice from the mat and add it to the bowl. Add the coconut oil, white sugar, and brown sugar to the bowl and mash well.

  3. Add the egg and vanilla to the bowl and mix well until the egg and sugar are fully blended into the batter.

  4. Add the remaining ingredients and gently fold the batter until it comes together.

  5. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.