Best, best, best Nutella chocolate banana bread loaf recipe

Banana bread loaves were all the rage during lockdown – we had ripe bananas, flour, some time on our hands, and a desire for something delish. Everywhere on social media it felt like people were baking banana bread and banana loaf and sharing their recipes. So, inspired, I made a delicious one too (click here for the best, best, best Nutella banana bread loaf recipe).

Recently, my son and I decided to take it up a notch with a Nutella chocolate banana bread loaf recipe, and it was so good and extraordinary, I don’t think I’ll be going back to the plain version any time soon. This banana bread recipe comes from the New York Times, and has a five-out-of-five-star rating, with more than 1 200 votes. It’s easy to make, though I found the burnt butter method a little tricky as I wasn’t sure exactly when the mixture was done. If you want the Nutella to be a little easier to handle, you can melt it in the microwave for a few seconds.

This chocolate banana bread loaf is delicious on its own or with butter or syrup and toasted with Nutella.

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You will need:

113g unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring the pan
1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
¾ tsp kosher salt
1½ cups mashed bananas, from about 3 medium bananas
⅔ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup plain Greek yoghurt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
⅓ cup chocolate-hazelnut spread, like Nutella

How to make the Nutella Banana Bread Loaf

1. Heat the oven to 180ºC. Butter and flour a loaf pan.
2. Stir the flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl.
3. Brown butter: Melt butter in a light-coloured saucepan over medium heat. Cook butter, occasionally scraping the bottom and sides of the pan with a rubber spatula until it turns a deep golden brown and smells nutty. Don’t walk away from the pan during this process. The butter will go from browned and nutty to acrid and burnt in moments. Transfer butter to a large heat-safe mixing bowl and let it cool slightly.
4. When the butter has cooled a bit, add the mashed bananas, sugar, yoghurt, eggs and vanilla extract. Stir until well combined, then add the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Pour half the batter into prepared pan and spread it evenly with a knife or offset spatula. Spoon half the chocolate-hazelnut spread in several dollops over the top and use a toothpick or skewer to swirl it into the batter. Spoon and spread the remaining batter over the top followed by dollops of the remaining spread. Swirl in the spread, then bake the bread for 55 to 60 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

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