Banana bread flavor

[Ahappycamper]

I have a confession to make. I really love commercial banana bread....like the stuff you would find at Walmart, sprouts, mimis cafe and other places. I've tried to make banana bread at home with online recipes and most taste good and all call for real bananas but I'm not getting the banana taste I get from commercial baked goods. Is it because the bananas used in these commercial goods is a fake artificial banana or banana extract? I've gotten comments before that it's really ripe bananas that I need to use and I do use these but still find that it doesn't give the commercial flavor

 

[Becky]

Is it because the bananas used in these commercial goods is a fake artificial banana or banana extract?

Probably. If you're not getting the flavour you like from using really ripe bananas (ideally the skins should be covered in black spots) then by all means add a little banana flavouring too

 

[Apocalypso]

I saw an interesting YouTube video (very homey, not professional cooks or anything) where the young woman took a whole bunch of very overripe bananas, then microwaved them in a bowl covered with plastic, and essentially squeezed the liquid out of the flesh, then concentrated it in a pan over heat.

I imagine you could adapt this and essentially use twice the amount of bananas (which are fairly cheap as fruit goes) by volume with the liquids all reduced and concentrated. I haven't found a banana extract that tastes like banana, but there's an alcoholic beverage called 99 bananas (which fortunately comes in the tiny airplane size bottles in Total Wine) and have added that along with real bananas in a cake recipe. Also, amaretto or almond extract compliments banana flavor pretty well, at least to me. And, as Becky said, the bananas need to be very overripe to get the maximum flavor out of them, as the starches have turned to sugars. I have a bunch of very overripe bananas in my freezer that my sweetie was gonna throw out. I guess I need to use them up!

 

[Becky]

That's a really clever idea!

 

[Sharzi]

I make a buttermilk banana bread with 6-7 extremely ripe bananas and it's a VERY banana flavor. Nice and moist too. I enhance the flavor further with not only some cinnamon, but a touch of maple syrup.

 

[Thut1997]

I found that overripe banana works really well and it makes much more flavorful if you add twice the amount of banana that is needed.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I saw an interesting YouTube video (very homey, not professional cooks or anything) where the young woman took a whole bunch of very overripe bananas, then microwaved them in a bowl covered with plastic, and essentially squeezed the liquid out of the flesh, then concentrated it in a pan over heat.

I imagine you could adapt this and essentially use twice the amount of bananas (which are fairly cheap as fruit goes) by volume with the liquids all reduced and concentrated. I haven't found a banana extract that tastes like banana, but there's an alcoholic beverage called 99 bananas (which fortunately comes in the tiny airplane size bottles in Total Wine) and have added that along with real bananas in a cake recipe. Also, amaretto or almond extract compliments banana flavor pretty well, at least to me. And, as Becky said, the bananas need to be very overripe to get the maximum flavor out of them, as the starches have turned to sugars. I have a bunch of very overripe bananas in my freezer that my sweetie was gonna throw out. I guess I need to use them up!

I agree about banana extract not being any good. I think this technique works to control the moisture content better than concentrating the flavor though. I’ve been using it for several years. This technique is actually from America’s Test Kitchen. The ATK episode on this predates their video by about a year or so.