A banana bread recipe shared by baker Stacey Doyle of the Little Figgy Food blog includes an unexpected ingredient: mashed potatoes. The addition is said to make the loaf fluffier and softer, and the preparation takes just 10 minutes.
Baker's 'meh to wowza' twist
Stacey tried adding mashed potatoes to her banana bread batter and "loved" the results. She said: "I enjoy a gorgeous banana bread recipe and have had my fair share of experience testing them out through the years. This time, I wanted to switch things up a bit, so I added an unexpected ingredient to hopefully give it that texture I love. It worked! By adding in fluffy mashed potatoes, this easy banana bread recipe went from meh to wowza."
She says using good-quality, floury potatoes is key — varieties such as Maris Pipers or King Edwards work best, reports the Express.
Ingredients and method
The recipe takes 10 minutes to prepare and around one hour and 20 minutes to bake. Ingredients include one cup of sugar, a quarter cup of vegetable oil, two eggs, two teaspoons of vanilla extract, two to three mashed bananas, half a teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of baking soda, two teaspoons of baking powder, two teaspoons of cinnamon, half a teaspoon of nutmeg, one and a half cups of plain flour, one cup of potatoes (peeled, cooked and mashed), and half a cup of walnut pieces (optional).
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark 4, then grease and line a 2lbs loaf tin. Using a stand or handheld electric mixer, blend together the sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla and bananas. Add the salt, baking soda and powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and plain flour, mixing on a low speed until combined. Then mix in the mashed potatoes until fully incorporated. If using walnuts, fold them into the mixture now. Pour the batter into the loaf tin and scatter any extra walnuts over the top if you like.
Baking and cooling
Bake for 50 to 70 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Start checking after 50 minutes and test every five minutes until done, as oven temperatures can vary. Leave the loaf to cool in the tin for five to 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
