One of the downsides to trying to balance keeping up with recipe development jobs and making sure I have fresh content to post here is that I rarely have time to make recipes created by other people. (I’m not complaining – I love what I do and can’t get over the fact that big companies are actually willing pay me to play in the kitchen!)
Then I heard about the Secret Recipe Club, which pairs up bloggers each month and has them make, test, and write about another blogger’s recipe – meaning not only that I’d get to make something created by someone else, but I’d also get feedback on my recipes. Win-Win, right? Unfortunately, a lot of people agreed that it was a great concept – I’ve been on the waiting list for months. But I finally made it into a group, and I couldn’t be more excited!
For my first month participating in SRC, I was assigned to The More Than Occasional Baker. I considered making something sinfully decadent like Peanut Butter Toblerone Cheesecake (!!!) but ultimately settled on the Earl Grey Banana Bread. What can I say? I’ve been searching for a better banana bread recipe, and I adore Earl Grey.
This recipe is definitely a keeper! It’s light and fluffy, but also super moist – it’s totally not the kind of banana bread that requires a smear of butter to make it edible. The tea flavor is subtle, but it adds a really interesting layer of flavor that I loved. Same for the brown sugar, which adds slight caramel notes, and the turbinado sugar on top, which gives the crust a sticky toffee-like crunch.
All in all, this is a great bread to either grab for a quick breakfast or to enjoy mid-afternoon with a mug of tea.
Earl Grey Banana Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup Water
- 5 bags of Earl Grey tea
- ¼ cup packed Dark Brown Sugar
- ¾ cup Sugar
- ½ cup Butter
- 1 cup fat free Sour Cream
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 Eggs lightly beaten
- 2-1/4 cups all purpose Flour
- 3 very ripe Bananas mashed
- 2 tablespoons Turbinado Sugar Sugar in the Raw
- Preparation
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F.
- Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add the tea bags. Allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes, then discard the tea bags. Add the sugars and butter and return the pan to the heat. Cook until the butter and sugars have melted into a thick syrup, about 2 minutes. Let cool.
- Combine the sour cream and baking soda in a large bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in the cooled tea syrup and the eggs. Sift in the flour and fold gently to combine. Fold in the mashed bananas.
- Pour the batter into two greased loaf pans. Sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar.
- Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before slicing.
Hi! I made this recipe and while it is really good, my bread coame out dense and not fluffy as yours appears in your photos. Is it because I opted to blend my bananas in a food processor until liquid basically? Also, I couldn’t taste the earl grey flavor at all. Any tips or suggestions you can suggest? Thanks so much!!
Hi! I was wondering if you’d have substitute for the sour cream? Can i just use normal cream/thicken cream?
Regular cream would be too thin. I’d try plain yogurt instead.
I gave this recipe a shot, but cut the sugar down to 1/2 cup, used none for the top crust, and added 1 tsp vanilla. The flavor was PERFECT – exactly what I was hoping for with this combo. However, this was also my first time making banana bread on my own, and it turned out a bit dry and dense… any ideas as to where I went wrong in the process?
– Banana Bread Enthusiast
I’m so glad the flavor was good! The denseness and dryness was probably because you cut back so much on the sugar, which helps keep baked goods moist and tender. Here’s an article about the role of suagar in baking: http://www.finecooking.com/articles/how-sugar-affects-baking.aspx
Seems like a catch-22… If sugar is necessary, then how might I be able to cut back without sacrificing the moisture of my baked goods?
Personally, I’d rather keep the sugar in and just eat a smaller slice (and maybe leave it off the top with this recipe). You could also try this version from Sugar Free Mom – it’s sweetened with stevia. I haven’t tried this particular recipe, but I’ve made others from her with a lot of success. http://www.sugarfreemom.com/recipes/stevia-sweetened-chocolate-chip-cream-cheese-banana-bread/