Ingredients
Yields: 1 loaf
- 230 g overripe banana flesh - this should amount to 4-5 small bananas, or 2-3 big ones, plus one more to garnish
- 100 g butter - softened at room temperature
- 70 g shiro - sweet miso
- 80 g caster sugar
- 80 g light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 12 g baking powder
- 2 g cinnamon
Method
- Peel all the bananas, and mash up all but one with a fork. That last one we’ll save as a garnish.
- Heat your oven to 175°C, and ready a lined loaf tin for your banana bread batter.
- In a mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, sweet miso, caster sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until it turns light and fluffy. This should take 2-3 minutes. Then, add in the mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla extract and mix for 30 seconds. The batter might start to look a little chunky and split at this point; don’t fret, this is perfectly normal. Finally, add in the dry ingredients — flour, baking powder and cinnamon — and mix for another 20-30 seconds, until a smooth batter forms.
- Pour the banana bread batter into the lined loaf tin. Then, take that extra banana you saved in step one, and slice it in half lengthwise. Place them on top of the batter, cut side up. (See the photos for reference.)
- Bake the banana bread in the oven for 60-75 minutes, rotating it once 45 minutes into the baking process. To check for doneness, prick it in the middle with a skewer or cake tester; the cake is done when the skewer comes out clean. When done, let it cool in the tin for 30 minutes before digging in!
Notes
A note of caution — there are several types of miso out there. Shiro (or white) miso works best for this recipe, and for most desserts for that matter, because out of all the misos, it is the sweetest and has the mellowest level of funk. You could use yellow miso here too if you already have a tub of that in your fridge, but I suggest you steer clear away from the uber-funky red miso paste. But then again, maybe some of you *like* extreme funk. Plus, you know I’m all for kooky, adventurous cooking, so I won’t stop you. Just don’t blame me when your banana bread instead turns out to be a full-on miso bread with an afterthought of banana. (Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing..?)
15 thoughts on “Secret Ingredient Banana Bread”
Hi Jun, I know it’s an oldie but goodie recipe of yours but I finally got round to trying it out today. 10/10 will make again. Amazing flavour, visually appealing, and miso was very subtle. In my oven it was done by around 45 min actually (but I let it run to 50 min). I’d also definitely add nuts next time. Thank you!
This was probs one of the best banana bread I’ve made when it came out of the oven. I really enjoyed the crunchiness on the top! However, very disappointed the next morning to find that it was no longer as crunchy :\ tips on storage? I let cool completely, stored in airtight container with two pieces of paper towel sandwiching the bread. Should it not be covered at all? Was planning on making it again for for a potluck the day before so any suggestions would be appreciated!
What os the size of the loaf tin used ?
I increased the sweet miso to 100g and used salted cultured butter instead of unsalted regular butter. Sprinkle a little brown sugar over the top. Delicious!!
Made this last night, following gram measurements. The bread structure itself is great, moist but not overly dense. The flavor does pull towards the savory direction, but it is not a savory bread. It’s still sweet, but the sweetness is tempered by the miso. I did like the addition of the sliced banana on top and suggest a sprinkle of turbinado sugar prior to baking for that extra crunch. I definitely plan to make again.
Is this salted butter in the recipe?
I used unsalted butter here
Hi Jun, one question before I sacrifice my precious overripe bananas ;): You write to use 230g of bananas or 4-5 ones. In my experience, though, one medium banana weighs around 100g, peeled. So are you absolutely sure about the weight? Would be super thankful for a quick answer :)!
Thanks for the question Laura! Yup I did use 230g, and I suppose the Malaysian bananas I used were about half the size of the typical Cavendish. Lemme amend that in the recipe. Thanks for this!
How do you think Doenjang paste would do in place of the miso? I don’t have shiro miso in my fridge..
Ooooh! That would work too actually. Although I do find doenjang to be a lot more earthy and bean-like than miso (or maybe that’s just the brand I use), but I think it’s worth a try!
Love your recipe. Do you have recipe in American format. Grams and oven temps. Don’t want to have failure.
Hey Pat! I always find grams waaay more accurate than cups so if you have a weighing scale, that’s your best bet. But if you don’t, you can google the conversion for each item, because each one is different. (e.g. “100 grams butter to cups”) As for the oven temp, 175°C comes to 350°F. Hope this helps!
My banana bread gets thin sliced and froze. That way a slice is wonderfully untamed in a few minutes every beautiful am. Ps walnuts are a must in mine. This recipe is almost exact on target
Heh thank you!! And yes, gosh I love walnuts in my regular banana breads too, but left them out this time to let the miso fully express itself. I might actually try that next!