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Banana-Hazelnut Bread
At the ultra-modern Black Isle Bakery in Berlin, owner Ruth Barry bakes a small array of simple but well-crafted treats—homey, inviting goodies such as loaf cakes, cookies, buns and tarts. We think her banana hazelnut loaf is especially delicious, the nut and fruit flavors in perfect balance and the crumb extremely moist and tender. It also happens to be dairy- and egg-free. Once cooled, the bread will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days; after that, it can be refrigerated for a couple days longer, but bring to room temperature before serving.
1
9-inch loaf
Don’t use underripe bananas. For best flavor and texture, the unpeeled bananas should be darkly speckled on the outside and very soft on the inside. Don’t over-toast the hazelnuts. Aim for lightly golden so the nuts that are chopped and sprinkled on top of the loaf don’t become too dark during baking. If you purchased already toasted/roasted hazelnuts, there’s no need to toast them—they can be used directly from the bag.
1½ hours
30 minutes active, plus cooling
Ingredients
-
105
grams (¾ cup) hazelnuts
-
210
grams (1¾ cups) cake flour
Directions
-
01Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle position. Put the hazelnuts in a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and toast in the oven until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Cool to room temperature. If the nuts are skin-on, rub them in a clean kitchen towel to remove as much of the skins as possible (it’s fine if some of the skins remain). Roughly chop 35 grams (¼ cup) of the hazelnuts and set aside.
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I used bananas that I had frozen earlier when they got very ripe, and this worked great. The hazelnuts give the bread a very rich flavor. I would reduce the amount of sugar, though - it is a bit sweet for me.