This banana bread is loaded with a little bit of everything! 🤫😛

You’ve got chocolate chips, fudge chunks, pretzels, potato crisps, walnuts and dried cranberries! A delicious bread with both sweet and savoury elements 🤤 The best thing about this recipe is that you can use your favourite mix-ins or you can add whatever ingredients you have in your kitchen!

Why is it called kitchen sink banana bread?

This name comes from the phrase “Everything but the kitchen sink,” in this case banana bread has all kinds of sweet & salty mix-ins! You can toss in whatever you have on hand. 

‍

‍

INGREDIENTS YOU'LL NEED 

For exact quantities, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.

FOR BANANA BREAD

• Bananas: You have to use ripe bananas for this bread. Ripe bananas are extra sweet, soft and easy to mash, making them perfect for this bread.
• Plain flour (or all-purpose flour): I used plain flour for this recipe you can use cake flour instead or can use gluten-free flour for gluten-free bread.
• Unsalted Butter: It enhances the flavour of the bread.
• Baking Soda: It is used to rise the banana bread. It works best in this recipe so don’t replace it with baking powder.
• Light brown sugar and granulated sugar: White sugar adds softness and light brown sugar adds more richness and moisture. It also gives a deeper and caramelised flavour to this bread. You can use dark brown sugar instead.
• Greek yoghurt: It makes the bread super moist. Yoghurt should be at room temperature. If you don’t have Greek yoghurt, you can use sour cream or even unsweetened plain yoghurt.
• Eggs: should be at room temperature.
• Salt: It balances the sweetness and enhances the flavours.
• Ground Cinnamon: It is quite optional but it gives an amazing flavour to this bread.
• Vanilla extract: Adds flavour.
• Mix-ins: Chocolate chips, mini pretzels, fudge chunks, potato crisps, walnuts and dried cranberries.

FOR CHOCOLATE GLAZE (Ganache):

• Milk chocolate chips and double cream/heavy cream.

‍

‍

HOW TO RIPEN BANANAS

If you don’t have ripe bananas on hand, place them on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated fan oven at 150C/302F (or 170C/338F for a conventional oven) for 5-10 minutes or until they have turned brown. Let them cool before use.

LET’S MAKE IT STEP BY STEP

STEP 1: MAKE BANANA BREAD

• Preheat the Fan oven to 155C/311F (For a conventional oven: 175C/347F). 
• Prepare a 9x5 inch loaf pan with baking paper/parchment paper leaving the overhangs on the larger sides of the pan for easy removal. Set aside.
• Combine plain flour (all-purpose flour), baking soda, salt and cinnamon powder in a large mixing bowl. Sift them, whisk them together and set aside.
• In a bowl, mash the ripe bananas into a pudding-like consistency with a fork, and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, add room temperature melted butter, white and brown sugar, and mix with a whisk until a mixture is well combined. Add in the eggs, vanilla extract, Greek yoghurt and mashed bananas then whisk them together until well combined.
• Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined (don’t over-mix).
• Fold in the Chocolate chips, fudge chunks, pretzels, potato crisps (smashed), roughly chopped walnuts and dried cranberries. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, spread it evenly and smooth the top with a spatula.
• Bake for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
• Let it cool for 15-20 minutes before removing it from the pan. Remove from the loaf pan using overhang baking paper. Let it cool completely before glazing.

‍

‍

STEP 2: MAKE CHOCOLATE GLAZE (Ganache)

• In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and double cream.
• Microwave it at 20-second intervals, stirring in between until the chocolate is smooth & creamy. Let it cool slightly. Drizzle this chocolate glaze on top of banana bread.
• Decorate with a few mini pretzels, potato crisps, chopped walnuts, chocolate chips and dried cranberries. You can add more things if you like.
• Pop in the fridge to set the glaze for about 15-20 minutes before slicing.
• Use a sharp serrated knife to cut the bread into slices.

‍

‍

PRO TIPS TO GET PERFECT BREAD!

The perfect balance of flour, brown butter, yoghurt and ripe bananas is the key to getting super moist and insanely delicious banana bread every single time.

• Always use room temperature ingredients, like yoghurt, butter and eggs to keep an even consistency of the batter. 
• Measure your flour accurately to get the best results. The best way to measure the flour is by using a digital scale but if you don’t have a digital scale, spoon and level your flour carefully. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then scrape a knife across the top of the measuring cup to level the flour.
• You have to use ripe bananas for this bread. The ripper, the better. Ripe bananas are extra sweet, soft and easy to mash, making them perfect for this bread. If you don’t have ripe bananas on hand, place them on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated fan oven at 150C/302F (or 170C/338F for a conventional oven) for 10 minutes or until they have turned brown. Let them cool before use.
• Sift your dry ingredients before adding them into the wet mixture! It helps to combine everything evenly.
• Don’t over-mix the batter. Once the dry ingredients are just combined with the wet ingredients, stop mixing too much otherwise it results in dense bread.
• This banana bread may take more than 1 hour to bake so if the top of your bread is browning too quickly, cover it with foil after 40 minutes and bake again until it is cooked through.
• The top of banana bread is crispy on the day of baking so use a sharp serrated knife to make neat slices or you can bake it one day ahead of serving. Let it cool after baking, cover it with plastic wrap, and keep at room temperature. Next day, pour the glaze over it, let it set, make slices and enjoy.

‍

‍

HOW TO STORE THIS BANANA BREAD!

Bread remains soft and moist at room temperature for up to 2-3 days if you store it in an air-tight container.

It will last up to a week in the fridge and up to one month in the freezer if they are stored in a freezer-safe ziplock bag. First, cool them completely then wrap in plastic wrap and finally put them in a large freezer-safe plastic bag. To thaw, you will have to bring them to room temperature, place them in the fridge overnight or leave it for a few hours at room temperature. Drizzle chocolate glaze and enjoy. You can microwave it for a few seconds to enjoy a warm slice of bread.

I hope that you'll try this recipe and you'll love them as much as my family and I do! If you make this recipe then be sure to tag @kaotickrunch on Instagram. We'd love to see your creations!

Happy baking and eating! 😊