Heavenly Nutella Banana Bread

Raise your hand if you love bananas, raise your other hand if you love Nutella (Hazelnut cream), now raise your two hands and one foot if you love bananas and Nutella together. Nutella and bananas go together just as dreamy as bananas and peanut butter, drool! One of our favorite snacks, lunches or even breakfast is a freshly made crepe with Nutella and banana slices (Even our scruffy terrier, Panchito, loves a few bites, what can I say this dog has good tastes.) The other day I was daydreaming of Nutella and banana crepes but it was 9 at night and much to late to make a batch of crepes. When I get a craving I'm like a child, I gotta get my fix straight away. So I made a bread instead.

This was one of the best breads/cakes/loafs I have ever made! It was so light, moist, spongy, chocolatie and oh so satisfying. My husband didn't know what I was up to in the kitchen and when I brought him a slice he was happily surprised. He also really liked it and kept saying how good it tasted. In our house I'm the one that eats more desserts and sweets so to see him enjoy it this much was a good sign. Totally worth washing dishes at that time of day. You will notice that there is very little sugar, I find Nutella and bananas to be sweet enough on their own and didn't want to have an over sweetened bread. I hope you too enjoy the recipe as much as we did.

Ingredients:

Wet Ingredients:
2 small ripe bananas = 1/2 cup or 150 grams mashed
1 medium egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. Bourbon Vanilla or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. brown sugar (organic)
2 heaping tbsp. Nutella or any Hazelnut cream
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1/2 cup whole milk

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

1. Preheat the oven to 200C or 392F, line a loaf mold with baking paper or butter and dust with flour then set aside. In a large bowl sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

2. In a separate large bowl mash the bananas or add the mashed bananas. Beat the egg into the bananas for 2 minutes ( to build some air). Next add the salt, vanilla, brown sugar and oil into the bowl. Stir until well combined, then add the Nutella and mix until all ingredients are well incorporated. Pour the whole milk into the wet ingredients and stir until well combined.

3. Using a spatula fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, just until all ingredients are well combined. But do not over stir as this will create gluten and the bread will not rise. Pour batter into baking/loaf mold.

4. Place in center of oven and bake for 35 minutes or until baked through. Test the bread by inserting either a toothpick or butter knife into the center and if baked through it will come out dry. If there is batter on the toothpick/knife the bread needs to bake longer. Allow to cool before serving.

You can also serve with butter, or toast a slice then butter it. Delish!

See the large air pockets that formed all over the bread, making it very light and airy.

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OTHER GREAT NUTELLA RECIPES:

Nutella Cream Pie by Gingerbread Bagels

Nutella and Peanut Butter Granola Bars by Pass The Sushi

Nutella Queen Claudia (What's Cookin' Italian Style Cuisine) has so many great recipes here.

Fried Orange Creams with Nutella Ganache by Gina (guest post on Chef Dennis blog)

Goji Berry Tart with Nutella and Spelt Crust by Foodiva