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pistachio orange blossom banana bread

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Ingredients

  • 1 to 1 1/4 cup mashed banana from 3 very overripe bananas *
  • 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup olive oil (not extra virgin olive oil; feel free to substitute more butter, or another neutral-flavored oil)
  • 2 room temperature eggs
  • 2 teaspoons orange blossom water **
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 cups sifted flour (about 1 3/4 cups unsifted)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup chopped raw pistachios
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely ground pistachios for the top ***

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
  2. Butter a 8×4″ loaf pan. ****
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the mashed bananas together with the melted butter and olive oil until very well combined. Add the eggs, orange blossom water, sugar, and salt, and whisk together until the whole thing is completely incorporated.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and baking powder, and then pour in the pistachios.
  5. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Do not over-mix (stop mixing as soon as there are no large lumps).
  6. Spoon the mixture into the loaf pan.
  7. Sprinkle the top with the ground pistachios.
  8. Bake for about 1 hour. Start checking for doneness after about 50 minutes, by inserting a toothpick or wooden skewer into the center of the loaf. If it comes out with batter, it needs more time, but if it comes out with just some crumbs, it’s ready to take out.
  9. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

Notes

* I’ve also tested this recipe with 1 1/4 cups of mashed banana, and it works great too, so if you have a little extra, feel free to leave it in. It may take a little longer to bake through, and you might need to tent it in foil for the last few minutes of cooking to keep it from browning too much at the edges. The final product will have a slightly less bready, more pudding-like consistency. Be absolutely sure to line the pan with parchment (see below) if you add extra banana, because the banana bread will want to stick.

** Feel free to add more orange blossom water, if you’d like. I really don’t like when there’s too much fower water, so I usually stick with 2 teaspoons, but some people prefer adding more like 1 to 2 tablespoons. I never add more than 1 tablespoon. It’s totally up to you!

*** The pistachios that are mixed into the loaf should simply be chopped, but the ones sprinkled on top should be ground (in other words, very finely chopped). You can use a food processor, a nut grinder, or simply a chef’s knife (I like to simply use the crumbs left behind from chopping the pistachios). It’s okay if there are a few larger pieces sprinkled on top, it just looks prettier with mostly ground pistachios.

**** Feel free to instead use a 9×5″ loaf pan if you’re very worried about spillage. But if you follow the recipe carefully, the batter should be viscous enough that it won’t overflow, but will instead puff up into a beautiful, tall loaf as it bakes. If you use a 9×5 loaf, check it for doneness about 5 to 10 minutes earlier. If your pan isn’t nonstick (or is very scratched-up nonstick), make a parchment sling for easy removal (butter the pan, place the sling, and add more butter to the parchment). Simply trace a butter knife around the bare sides and lift it out with the parchment flaps.

Find it online: https://cardamomandtea.com/77/banana-bread/