Moist Whole Wheat Banana Bread

The whole wheat in this banana bread gets balanced out by a generous cup of all-purpose flour, which keeps the crumb tender rather than dense and gritty the way 100% wheat loaves often go. The other secret to the moist texture is hot water added at the end, which softens the wheat bran on contact and helps the loaf stay tender for days.

Melted butter, not creamed, is what you want here. It folds in fast with the sugar and bananas and gives the loaf a denser, fudgier crumb than fluffy creamed butter would.

Use seriously overripe bananas, the kind with brown spots covering at least half the peel. The starches have converted to sugars by then, so the flavor is concentrated and sweet. Pale yellow bananas taste like nothing in banana bread.

The long, slow bake at 325°F (165°C) for over an hour does the work of a low oven: it cooks the loaf through without burning the wheat-flour edges or drying out the center. Don’t be tempted to crank the heat.

Kitchen Tips

• Toast the walnuts in a dry skillet for 4 to 5 minutes before adding. Untoasted walnuts taste flat and bitter inside the loaf.
• Mash the bananas with a fork, not a blender. Some texture is good. A puree disappears into the batter.
• Tent with foil at the 45-minute mark if the top is browning faster than the inside is setting.
• Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then on a wire rack. Slicing too soon collapses the crumb.

Variations

• Stir in ½ cup of dark chocolate chips along with the walnuts for a decadent twist.
• Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and ½ teaspoon of cardamom to the dry mix for a spiced version.
• Swap the walnuts for chopped pecans or toasted hazelnuts to change the nut profile.