Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins, plus 45 mins cooling time
Makes: 1 (9-inch) loaf
The tastiest way to deal with overripe bananas is to mash them up and use them in bread. But by roasting bananas, you don’t even have to wait for them to get ripe. It’s a sneaky shortcut to concentrating their banana flavor, which is complemented here by layers of intense chocolate-hazelnut spread. Enjoy a slice of this quick bread for breakfast or even for dessert topped with some Cinnamon Ice Cream.
Special equipment: You’ll need a metal 9-by-5-inch loaf pan for this recipe. Loaf pans can be purchased at most cooking supply stores and many large grocery stores.
Game plan: If you happen to have ripe bananas on hand, skip the roasting part in step 2.
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds almost-ripe bananas (about 5 medium bananas; they should be yellow with a few brown spots, not green)
1/2 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread, such as Nutella
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil, plus more for coating the pan
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat the oven to 350°F, arrange a rack in the middle, and place a piece of aluminum foil on the rack.
Place the unpeeled, whole bananas on the foil and bake until the peels are completely black, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the bananas to a wire rack to cool, about 15 minutes. Discard the aluminum foil.
Meanwhile, coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with vegetable oil; set aside. Place the chocolate-hazelnut spread in a resealable plastic bag, snip off about 1/3 inch from a bottom corner, and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl to aerate and break up any lumps; set aside.
When the bananas are cool enough to handle, peel them over a large bowl, letting any juices drip into the bowl. Mash with a potato masher or fork until almost smooth. Add the measured oil, sugars, eggs, and vanilla and whisk until combined. Add the reserved flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined.
Scrape one-third of the batter into the prepared pan and push it into the corners. Squeeze half of the chocolate-hazelnut spread onto the banana batter in a zigzag pattern.
Top with another third of the batter spread into an even layer. Squeeze the remaining chocolate-hazelnut spread on top in a zigzag pattern. Top with the remaining batter, pushing it into the corners and smoothing the top.
Bake until the bread is golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (test several spots because you may hit a pocket of banana or hazelnut spread), about 60 to 65 minutes.
Let the pan cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the perimeter of the bread and turn it out onto the rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes more before slicing.
