Banana Bread

Method

1. prep5 min
   oven 350°F / 175°C
   heat the oven and butter an 8x4 loaf pan — a small deep pan, not a wide one, because the loaf needs to rise on gluten and steam before the crust sets
2. mash3 min
   room temperature
   banana, to a lumpy paste with a fork. Use fruit that is black-spotted and soft: the starch has already converted to sugar, so it sweetens and thins the batter at once. Firm yellow bananas give a bland, dry loaf and no amount of sugar fixes it
3. whisk2 min
   off heat
   melted butter + brown sugar + egg + vanilla + mashed banana, until glossy. Let the butter cool below body temperature first or it will begin to set the egg into threads
4. mix1 min
   separate bowl
   flour + baking soda + salt, dispersed evenly. The soda needs the banana's acid to leaven; any pocket left undistributed shows up as a bitter grey streak
5. fold2 min
   by hand, minimal strokes
   wet + dry + walnuts, stopping while a few floury patches remain. Every extra stroke develops gluten, and developed gluten in a quick bread means long vertical tunnels, a domed crack, and a gummy chew
6. bake55 min
   350°F / 175°C, center rack
   batter in the pan, until a skewer in the middle comes out with crumbs but no wet batter and the top has split along its length. The split is normal — the crust sets before the interior finishes expanding
7. rest15 min
   in pan, then on a rack
   the loaf, before slicing. The crumb is still setting; cut hot and the starch has not finished retrograding, so the knife drags it into a dense smear