The other day I had a banana-pecan muffin that was so absolutely disgusting (I am positive it used banana extract to flavour it—blech!), that I decided it was time to finally make this recipe.
Annoyances:
1. The inclusion of softened butter. Part of my annoyance stems from not having an electric hand- or stand-mixer, so I have to cream butter and brown sugar by hand—not ideal. But my annoyance also stems from the belief that quick breads like banana bread get their moisture from oil or at the very least melted butter, making them much simpler to throw together. I don’t want to have to plan ahead to set my butter out to soften. Hmph.
2. Having to take the time to heat the oven to roast nuts and then cool. I might roast the nuts in the microwave next time instead to save time.
3. Adding the dry to the wet before adding the banana—my dough was quite stiff as I tried to incorporate the dry ingredients. It only loosened up once the banana was added at the end.
Risks taken:
1. After hearing how the white miso did not seem to add any perceptible flavour, and watching more than one video where even Food 52 editors used the “wrong” type of miso for baked goods to no ill effects, I decided what-the-heck and just went ahead and used the (not white) miso I had on hand. I also put a bit less salt on the nuts than called for since my miso is a bit saltier than the elegant white miso varieties.
2. I added a wee dash of ground cloves as that is supposed to help bring out the banana flavour—or so I’ve heard.
Evaluation:
- This produced a light, soft banana bread with a slightly darker crust. Even though I reduced the amount of salt on the roasted pecans, they remained a bit too salty for my tastes. In future, I would add a bit of salt to the batter and not salt the pecans at all—the salt tends to clump on some pecans more than others despite giving everything a good toss in the roasting pan.
- The banana bread itself was not too salty with the use of red miso. The miso definitely adds something behind the banana flavour. It’s subtle and I’m still deciding if I like it or not. It is a bit hard to pick up over the salted pecans.
- The loaf itself is fairly flat after cooling, although it did dome a bit in the oven. I baked this in a truly crappy loaf pan that I had to cover in aluminium foil (to make it less gross) before lining it with parchment on all sides. A better pan might have helped it dome a bit more.
Thank you for another great episode!
The other day I had a banana-pecan muffin that was so absolutely disgusting (I am positive it used banana extract to flavour it—blech!), that I decided it was time to finally make this recipe.
Annoyances:
1. The inclusion of softened butter. Part of my annoyance stems from not having an electric hand- or stand-mixer, so I have to cream butter and brown sugar by hand—not ideal. But my annoyance also stems from the belief that quick breads like banana bread get their moisture from oil or at the very least melted butter, making them much simpler to throw together. I don’t want to have to plan ahead to set my butter out to soften. Hmph.
2. Having to take the time to heat the oven to roast nuts and then cool. I might roast the nuts in the microwave next time instead to save time.
3. Adding the dry to the wet before adding the banana—my dough was quite stiff as I tried to incorporate the dry ingredients. It only loosened up once the banana was added at the end.
Risks taken:
1. After hearing how the white miso did not seem to add any perceptible flavour, and watching more than one video where even Food 52 editors used the “wrong” type of miso for baked goods to no ill effects, I decided what-the-heck and just went ahead and used the (not white) miso I had on hand. I also put a bit less salt on the nuts than called for since my miso is a bit saltier than the elegant white miso varieties.
2. I added a wee dash of ground cloves as that is supposed to help bring out the banana flavour—or so I’ve heard.
Evaluation:
- This produced a light, soft banana bread with a slightly darker crust. Even though I reduced the amount of salt on the roasted pecans, they remained a bit too salty for my tastes. In future, I would add a bit of salt to the batter and not salt the pecans at all—the salt tends to clump on some pecans more than others despite giving everything a good toss in the roasting pan.
- The banana bread itself was not too salty with the use of red miso. The miso definitely adds something behind the banana flavour. It’s subtle and I’m still deciding if I like it or not. It is a bit hard to pick up over the salted pecans.
- The loaf itself is fairly flat after cooling, although it did dome a bit in the oven. I baked this in a truly crappy loaf pan that I had to cover in aluminium foil (to make it less gross) before lining it with parchment on all sides. A better pan might have helped it dome a bit more.