Banana Bread with Sticky Date & Ginger Butter
Next time you find yourself with a slow morning and not sure what to make for breakfast - I introduce you to one of my favorites. A loaf of homemade banana bread with sticky dates and ginger butter.
It starts off by measuring out the dry and wet ingredients and when I mash the bananas. I do like to keep the bananas a bit chunky because I love getting bits of banana throughout each bite. I love making quick breads because they are so easy, versatile and only take about 45 minutes in the oven which gives me time to put together the butter.
I do recommend grating some fresh ginger for this but dry/powdered ginger works fine too. I typically use 3 dates to 1 tablespoon of cold butter with a touch of cinnamon and brown sugar while mashing it with a fork. Then I let that firm up in the fridge to set before serving with a generous sprinkling of flakey salt and a big cup of coffee.
Banana Bread
* Serves approx. 9 * Ingredients
1 3/4 cup - all purpose flour
1/2 cup - white sugar ( I like zulka sugar )
1 tsp - cinnamon
1 tsp - baking powder
1 tsp - baking soda
1/4 tsp - salt
1/2 cup - almond milk
1 tbsp - lemon juice
1/3 cup - neutral oil
1 tbsp - vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup - mashed banana ( about 3 or 4 bananas )
Sticky Date Butter
3 dates pitted
1 tbsp - cold butter
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp - cinnamon
1 tsp - brown sugar
* optional addition coarse or flakey salt on top *
Instructions
Step 1 - Mise en Place
Gather all your dry and wet ingredients and pre heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 2 - Prepare the batter
Measure out the liquid ingredients, I do this in a large pitcher style measuring cup. I like to do this first to allow the lemon juice and milk to create a sort of “buttermilk” and binds the cake together nicely.
In a bowl measure out the dry ingredients, whisk together to avoid over mixing and then pour in the liquid ingredients and stir gently till combined being careful to not over mix.
Step 3 - Bake
In a greased loaf pan, pour or scoop in the batter and then bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 45 min or until fully baked through.
Step 4 - Make the butter
So to do this I like to soften up the dates with hot water. You could do this by boiling some water and pouring it over top or by heating up some dates in water in the microwave. I usually let them steep in the water for 2-5 min…while my morning coffee is brewing.
Once the dates are softened you could go about this 2 ways. The fast and noisy way with a food processor or the slower quiet way in a bowl with a fork. Depending on the morning vibes. In the video I went with the bowl and fork method because it made for a more aesthetic video.
With a fork mash the dates and butter together throwing in a touch a minced ginger. I suppose you could use ground ginger but the flavor just really isn’t the same. While mashing the 3 together, incorporate the brown sugar and cinnamon mashing them into the butter date mixture.
An important step here is after the mashing, allow the butter to firm up in the fridge for 2-5 minutes. Otherwise the butter will be melty and start to separate.
I do enjoy this sticky date and ginger butter on regular toast sometimes so while your are toasting your morning bread this butter can be made really quickly for a little extra morning spice if you don’t have time to make banana bread.
Step 5 - Dig in time
Once the banana bread is done, let it cool down al the way before cutting it. For a typical loaf pan I can easily cut 8 thick slices. An easy hack for this is cutting the loaf in half vertically, and then in half again, and then in half again for a total of 8 perfect slices. Then to spread some of the amazing date and ginger butter along with a hot cup of coffee.
