FOOD NEWS
Alton Brown Combats Banana Bread Mushiness With One Key Ingredient
By Heidi Chaya
Nothing can disappoint a home cook more than a loaf of banana bread that lacks the desired rich flavor and perfectly moist texture. Fortunately, celebrity chef Alton Brown, who accuses many banana bread renditions of being "insipid and mushy," has an interesting method for achieving a perfect loaf of banana bread.
In his recipe for Oatmeal Banana Bread, Alton Brown uses "old-fashioned" rolled oats (not instant oats), which are toasted in a preheated oven for around 15 minutes and ground in a food processor until they reach "the consistency of whole wheat flour." The oats not only bump up the nutritional value of the bread but also help balance the wet ingredients by absorbing moisture.
Paige Bennett of Business Insider, who tried Brown's recipe alongside two other celebrities, said that the oats added their own pleasantly-surprising flavor to the bread without masking the expected sweetness of the bananas. Bennett reported being blown away by the sweet treat, and given Brown’s expertise, we're not surprised.