Bundt Pan Banana Nut Bread

Banana Nut Bread had never been near the top of my list of favorite baked goods. But, that has recently changed thanks to a sweet neighbor getting my oldest kid hooked on it. This neighbor is a Grandmother who keeps a glass covered cake plate on her kitchen island. No matter how many times I lecture my son about asking for sweets at the neighbors house, he makes a bee-line for her kitchen when we stop by for a visit. There are always tasty sweet treats sitting there just waiting for cute little ones to gobble them up. I can’t really blame him for his rudeness. The goodies are always so good, especially her banana nut bread.

Once I saw how much my child loved the bread, I decided I needed to perfect my own recipe. I love beautiful bundt cakes baked in my antique bundt pan. So, I decided I need a great go-to Bundt Pan Banana Nut Bread recipe. As usual when I set out to make a recipe for a baked good, I try to incorporate as much whole wheat flour as possible without sacrificing the finished texture. Some may love super dense heavy wheat breads and cakes, but not me or my little ones. I also worked coconut oil into the recipe to add extra goodness and nutrition. The coconut oil helps keep it moist and also helps create a flawless exterior. This bread has just the right amount of sweetness. Making it a fine dessert, breakfast treat, or after school snack.

My babies love this Bundt Pan Banana Nut Bread! I have struggled to get a good picture of it every time I make it, because the kids want to dig in as soon as it comes out of the oven. I guess that is fine though because this is not a pseudokitchen photo-shopping pretentious “food blog”. This is real life and this is what happens when really good food comes out of the oven.

Ingredients

• 4 very ripe bananas
• 3 large eggs
• 1 & 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 cup wheat flour (or an additional 3/4 cup APF)
• 3/4 teaspoon vital wheat gluten (If you choose to use all white flour, omit the Vital Wheat Gluten)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 stick softened butter
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 & 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional, but adds a delicious warm flavor)
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

• Prepare Bundt pan by greasing with a generous amount of coconut oil and dusting with fine sugar. I use natural brown sugar in my baking. But, only use fine white sugar to prepare the pan. Shake a couple of spoons full of sugar inside the pan while turning it in different directions to cover every surface. When you are finished the surface of the pan should sparkle with sugar. This makes the exterior of this bread fabulous and with a slight caramelly crunch!
• Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cardamom in a large bowl and set aside.
• This batter can be made in a stand mixer on low or in a flat bottom bowl with the help of a potato masher.
• Combine butter, coconut oil, and sugar until creamy.
• Add 4 ripe bananas, vanilla extract and 3 large eggs. Mix or mash until smooth.
• Slowly add the flour/spice mixture to the batter and mix until all dry ingredients are incorporated. Then add the chopped pecans and sour cream. Mix until combined, but don’t over work the batter.
• Pour the thick batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 55 minutes.
  

  
• Remove the bundt pan from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before turning it upside down onto a cake plate. If the surface of the pan was properly coated and dusted with sugar, it will release effortlessly, and it will be beautiful!