Banana bread with nigella seeds is an easy beginner-friendly quick bread recipe that you can whip up with just a bowl and a whisk! There is no "creaming the butter" or "using a hand mixer" or anything that intimidates you to try baking!
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This banana quick bread with nigella seeds has just the right moist texture, great flavour and incredibly soft crumbs. My best-ever banana bread recipe that I can blindly bake.
Truly a beginner friendly baking project because this banana bread recipe is so forgiving that you cannot go wrong.
And the best part is you don't need to take out any appliances, your good old fork or whisk will be enough!
Ingredients
- Flour: I have used equal portion of Whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour. But feel free to make it all wheat or all plain!
- Sugar: I have tried this recipe with both white and brown sugar. I prefer the brown for the warm caramel note. You may use all white or all brown or a mix of both.
- Seeds: I love nigella seeds and aniseed. You can use sesame, chia, flax, etc. or if nuts are your thing, pecans, walnuts, etc.
- Cardamom powder: Goes well with the seeds used. You can use cinnamon and skip nigella seeds.
- Fat: I love using melted ghee. You can use melted butter or any cooking oil!
- Banana: Overripe and all-black skin is the best choice to bake as it would be in its sweetest form so you don't need a lot of added sugar.
Aniseed seeds
Aniseed is optonal. I had picked aniseed to make a Lebanese sweet recipe and the spice became my favourite since then. I tried to google the regional name and found that it is called Choti saunf in hindi. But I am not very sure about that. If you cannot find it, just skip it or use only nigella seeds (kalonji).
If you are interested to know more about aniseed, and why it is not the same as fennel seeds most of them assume, do check this article by Spiceography
Nigella seeds
I don't have to introduce Kalonji, right? Nigella seeds are more common than aniseed and are widely used across the India so I am hoping you can try this bread even if you cannot source aniseed.
Yes, you can either add aniseed or nigella seeds or none or both... you do you! I am not delving into the million possibilities of making Banana bread but let's stick to seeds as this post is about it. So other options would be poppy seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, and flaxseeds! But trust me these don't have the flavour that aniseed or nigella seeds impart!
How to make it?
The best thing about this recipe is you don't have to take out any gadgets to make this bread. All you need is two bowls, one whisk, and a rubber spatula! The mixing technique is called the muffin mixing method!
- Whisk the dry ingredients
- Whisk the wet ingredients
- Add the wet to the dry
- Fold gently taking care not to overdo (bits of dry flour is okay)
- Pour into a greased loaf and bake
Like a new oven baker, I had to try this recipe in a few different oven settings and temperatures and I can't make up my mind on which one is the best! I guess I am too biased toward Banana Bread.
Quantity of mashed bananas in this bread
I used to add ¾ cup of mashed bananas but learnt that my man doesn't like bits of banana visible in the bread slice and he won't eat. So I reduced it to ½ cup and it got sold! So I will suggest adding a minimum of ½ cup and you can go up to ¾ cup. In case you have only one banana and it yields only ¼ cup mashed, then add ¼ cup more liquid in the form of milk, buttermilk or whisked yoghurt.
As I said, a very forgiving recipe!
Okay, let's get going with the recipe now...
📖 Recipe Card
Banana Bread with Nigella Seeds
Equipment
- 1 8x4 loaf pan
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- ½ cup whole wheat flour, atta
- ½ cup all-purpose flour, maida
- ½ cup brown sugar, tightly packed
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- a pinch of salt
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
- ½ teaspoon nigella seeds , or aniseed (and more to sprinkle on top)
Wet Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup melted ghee, or melted butter or oil
- ½ to ¾ cup mashed overripe banana, approx 1 medium Chiquita
- ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
Instructions
Prep
- Place the oven wire rack in the middle (level 3). Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan or coat it with nonstick spray and line the bottom with baking paper.
Prepare the batter
- Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk to combine (use a balloon whisk).½ cup whole wheat flour½ cup all-purpose flour½ cup brown sugar½ teaspoon baking powder¼ teaspoon baking sodaa pinch of salt½ teaspoon cardamom powder½ teaspoon nigella seeds
- In a smaller bowl, beat the egg, then add the mashed banana, cooled melted ghee and vanilla essence. Whisk the wet ingredients until well incorporated.1 large egg¼ cup melted ghee½ to ¾ cup mashed overripe banana½ teaspoon vanilla essence
- Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients using a rubber spatula. DO NOT overmix. Bits of dry flour is okay. Fold in the same direction.
Bake
- Pour the batter into the lined loaf pan and smooth the surface. Sprinkle some seeds over the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
cool
- Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack for a few minutes and run a spatula around to release the bread. Make sure you remove the bread from the tin sooner so it doesn't get wet from the steam buildup inside. Let the bread cool completely on a wire rack.
serve and store
- Slice and serve with chai or coffee. Store at room temperature in an airtight box for 2 to 4 days or in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for a month or until it lasts.
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