Excellent! I could tell from the recipe that there would not be enough filling without the walnuts and since I planned to omit them I too doubled the cinnamon/sugar mixture. When baked and thickly sliced the texture of this bread is smooth and soft the sticky cinnamon-spicy sweetness oozes out and it creates the perfect ratio of bread to filling. The kids slathered their slices in homemade apple butter a friend gave us for Christmas but even plain this stuff is heavenly! Read More
zojirushi one-pound home bakery mini bread maker
Banana bread may be served at tea time or at breakfast, although there is no rule as to when you may eat it. This banana bread recipe turns out really well in a bread maker and it's a great way to to get rid of overripe bananas sitting in the bowl. In our family nobody touches bananas if the skin has any sign of black. I guess we all worry that they are spoiled. So, rather than wasting them, into the bread maker they go.
If the top center of the bread looks too moist when you take it out of the bread machine, you can try the classic baking “toothpick test”. Gently push a toothpick/chopstick/skewer into the top of the bread and see if any batter sticks to the toothpick/chopstick/skewer. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan and bread machine will still be hot. If batter is sticking to the toothpick/chopstick/skewer then it hasn’t completely cooked. Place the bread loaf pan back into the still warm bread machine for another 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes, remove the bread pan and test the banana bread again with a toothpick/chopstick/skewer. FYI – Given variability in banana sizes, banana breads tend to have more moistness variability than many other recipes. Moreover, since most bread machines turn off automatically after a specified time and you can not adjust the baking temperature, they are little less flexible than ovens in dealing with baking “variances”. Thus the need to use the toothpick test if the banana bread top looks too moist (or you can skip the toothpick test and just leave the banana bread in the still warm bread machine for an extra 5 minutes if the top looks a little too moist).
Select Sweet and Light settings on your machine and add raisins as per your manufacturer’s instructions. They can be added in with everything else. Start your bread machine. After the first kneading cycle is over, the bread should be smooth and stretchy. It should feel dry when you touch it. If necessary, add flour by the tablespoon to adjust the bread.
