Cardamom Coffee Banana Bread

By Sheela Prakash

Published October 10, 2024

  • Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
1¼ hours, plus cooling
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour 5 minutes, plus cooling
Rating
5(1,563)
Comments
Read comments

Adding cardamom to coffee is a well-loved practice throughout the Middle East and one that plays off each ingredient's traits. Sweet, floral cardamom mellows the acidity of coffee while coffee’s inherent bitterness keeps the peppery, menthol-like notes of the spice from overpowering. Here, the couple transforms a humble banana bread, perfuming it with extra warmth, while chopped dark chocolate adds richness. An optional coffee drizzle ensures this loaf is eye-catching but if you’d rather keep things simpler, sprinkle it with coarse turbinado sugar before baking to lend a touch of sparkle as well as pleasant crunch.

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings (One 9-inch loaf)

FOR THE BANANA BREAD

  • 3 very ripe large bananas (about 1 pound) 

  • ⅔ packed cup/146 grams light brown sugar

  • ½ cup/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), melted and slightly cooled

  • ⅓ cup/75 grams sour cream or whole-milk Greek yogurt

  • 2 large eggs

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 2 cups/256 grams all-purpose flour

  • 1 ½ tablespoons instant espresso powder (see Tip)

  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom, preferably freshly ground

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

  • 3 ounces/85 grams dark (bittersweet) chocolate, chopped (about ½ cup)

FOR THE (OPTIONAL) COFFEE DRIZZLE

  • 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

  • ⅓ cup/41 grams unsifted powdered sugar

  • Pinch kosher salt

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 to 10 servings)

54 grams carbs; 66 milligrams cholesterol; 359 calories; 4 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 15 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 256 milligrams sodium; 5 grams protein; 29 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper to form a sling that hangs over the two long sides.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher until mostly smooth (a few lumps are okay). Add the brown sugar, melted butter, sour cream, eggs and vanilla extract and whisk to combine.

  3. Step 3

    Add the flour, espresso powder, cardamom, baking soda and salt and stir until just combined; do not overmix. Stir in the chocolate.

  4. Step 4

    Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs attached, 55 to 65 minutes.

  5. Step 5

    Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Meanwhile, make the coffee drizzle, if using: While the banana bread is cooling, combine espresso powder and 2 teaspoons water in a small bowl to dissolve. Add the powdered sugar and stir with a fork until smooth.

  6. Step 6

    Run a knife around the sides of the bread to loosen it then grasp the parchment paper sling and lift the bread out of the pan onto a wire rack (see Tip). Peel off the parchment paper from the sides of the bread and drizzle the glaze over the top, if using (any excess will fall onto the peeled-off parchment). Let cool completely before removing the parchment paper from the bottom of the bread and slicing.

Tips

  • If you’re caffeine-sensitive, look for decaf instant espresso powder, which can be a little harder to find but is available online.

  • The cooled banana bread, without the glaze, can be tightly wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months. Let it thaw at room temperature at least 4 hours or up to overnight before glazing and serving. Alternatively, the bread can be baked and glazed up to a day ahead of time and stored, loosely covered, at room temperature.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
1,563 user ratings
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Comments

Attyinny

Every time you buy bananas, buy one more than you think you need. Put that whole super-ripe last banana in the freezer, skin and all. Repeat two or three times. The night before you want to bake a banana bread, take the bananas you want to use out of the freezer and let them thaw overnight in the fridge. When you bake your cake, cut the stem off the banana and squeeze the whole thing into the mix, like a tube of toothpaste. This never fails, and works on shorter notice. (Thanks, Alton Brown!)

Sam Collins

Make this exactly as written. If you like coffee ain’t no big thing. It’s very moist. I cooked it till the very end and made sure it was completely cool before I cut into it. The cardamom is in the very back. You bite into it, it’s bananaey and then a little bitter from the coffee and then follows up with this flowery thing, that is the cardamom. Nice recipe. … and it goes with coffee.

Ann ONeill

I’m of the opinion that the first attempt of another’s recipe should adhere to both the ingredients and methods provided by the recipe developer. As a food writer and recipe developer myself, I’ve been offended when friends ask for a recipe then leave off ingredients. (Like telling me black pepper didn’t belong in my apple/cheese/almond salad.) The problem here is that, while I love cardamom and coffee, I despise banana bread. Hatred. Vitriol. Quick breads I DO love, that would work with the cardamom and coffee, are pumpkin, sweet potato and apple butter. Erin Jean McDowell has a fantastic recipe for an apple butter bread on this site I’ve made many times. Both as written and with pumpkin or sweet potato. I see a mash up of these two in my near future.

Aditya Garg

Here's a list of enhancements liked by family and friends:- a) I always double the recipe... so two loaves, one for home + one to share b) substitute all-purpose flour with 1/4 oats, and 3/4 whole wheat flour c) add 1/2 cup of grated coconut to the dry mix d) substitute sour cream with cottage cheese e) substitute espresso powder with 2 shots of espresso e) add 1 cup of chopped walnuts, pecans and almonds as a last step

VB

I had a jar of decaf Tim Horton’s crystals in the cupboard so they took the role of espresso powder. Wasn’t sure it would work but it turned out reaaally great. Maybe the crystals added something bc they dissolved while baking?

Msesf

4 very ripe bananas=14 oz. Buttered 8" springform, lined bottom, sprinkled parchment w/2t Demerara+1.5T chopped sautéd pecans& 1/4t cinnamon, bef adding batter (unneces. step). Used 1.25t baking powder (mistake!+added 1/2 t baking soda), 2.25t cardamom, 1T instant espresso. Mixed brown sugar+1T blackstrap w/melted butter bef. adding to wet ingred., used WM Greek yogurt, 63% chips. Gooey at 55@ 340; done @ 60 min. Dusted w/ powdered sug. Meh...no card/cof flav. It's a moist cho chip banana bread

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