Banan nut bread in bread machine?

[sparkling_girl]

Hi all,

I've been making this pound cake for a couple of years now: http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/224058/updated-the-great-pound-cake-in-the-bread-machine-experiment

And today I would like to make banana nut bread in that same bread machine. The pound cake recipe makes a great pound cake every time, can I just add chopped walnut and mashed bananas to that recipe and have a great result?

Here's a recipe for banana bread http://allrecipes.com/recipe/banana-b... but I would like to know what you all think about me using the pound cake recipe and just add banana and nuts?

Thanks

[janniecooks]

I would think that one of the reasons the pound cake works in the bread machine is because pound cake batter typically undergoes a long beating to provide air for leaven (at least the butter/sugar does), which the machine provides. That is good for pound cake, but not so good for a quick bread like banana bread, which should be mixed only enough to combine ingredients, gently and as little as possible (like other quick breads and muffins). Seems to me the bread machine is not really suitable for quick breads.

[sunshine842]

no -- a bread machine doesn't beat/aerate - it mixes/kneads (even though I don't own one, I've considered it, so I looked into that process). They're not the same process by any stretch.

[iluvcookies]

I'm curious... what is the benefit to making this in a bread machine vs the oven?
I associate bread machines with yeasted breads, not quick breads, but if there is something to learn then I'd like to know.
thanks!

[masha]

My thought exactly. Banana bread is one of the easiest recipes to make. You don't even need an electric mixer. Back in the day, when I was in college, I remember classmates who made it in communal dorm kitchens, which had the most rudimentary of equipment.

[sunshine842]

I've never owned a bread machine, but I would think that the amount of energy and heat generated in the kitchen is a fraction of that in a big oven.

[masha]

Point taken.

[sparkling_girl]

Thanks everyone for your great replies. I love small appliances especially my bread machine, I like usimg it, don't care much about the oven ;)

My bread machine has a quick bread setting, I just used a different recipe and it's baking in there as we speak, not sure how it'll turn out but I added sour cream to the recipe and replaced all purpose flower with bread flour.

Thanks all, I'll report back soon :)

[sunshine842]

be really, really careful -- bread flour is very high-protein, and thus very, very likely to make a tough, dense loaf that won't rise, particularly with the heaviness of the sour cream. There's too much structure for the leavening agents to be able to lift.

Quick bread is a bit of a misnomer -- they are, recipe- and structure-wise, cakes, not breads.

[sparkling_girl]

Thanks, just to update everyone, the banana bread was THE BEST banana bread I've ever tasted! It came out great, moist and flavorful.

[sunshine842]

no, you can't just add banana -- the banana adds oil and moisture and sugar to the recipe -- my guess would be that you'd end up with a leaden, gloppy mess.

Use the banana bread recipe.

[sparkling_girl]

Thanks Sunshine,

I took your advice and used the banana bread recipe instead. Per some reviews, I added an extra banana along with chopped walnut and it came out so dry and elastic-like. It wasn't moist or anything, what did I do wrong?

[sunshine842]

My recipe is very close to yours in terms of the dry ingredients, but I see a couple of glaring differences --

My recipe has 2 tablespoons of milk, and the bananas are mashed (use the ones that have gone soft and brown - they give intense flavor and moisture). You actually measure a full cup of mashed banana, rather than x bananas.

Try that variation, and let us know if it isn't better -- the overripe bananas are very moist and have more oil/moisture, so they make for moister bread.

I've never used a bread machine, so I can't give you much help from the machine side.