When I first received my slow cooker, I didn’t expect to be able to make breads and desserts in it. But after experimenting with a few recipes, I’m happy to report that a slow cooker is even more versatile than I thought.
Related: Slow Cooker Bread
But why would you want to make something like banana bread in a slow cooker when you can make it in the oven, or even in a bakery?
There are many reasons. Maybe your oven is full cooking a roasted dinner, or maybe you want to go out for a few hours and don’t want to leave the oven on.
Whatever your reason, making banana bread in a slow cooker is straightforward and tastes as good as doing it any other way.
The texture comes out slightly different than when made in an oven, it’s denser and doesn’t go up as much, but it still tastes AMAZING
. How to
make banana bread in a slow cooker
1. Gather all the
ingredients
You can use 2 or 3 bananas, depending on how many you have available. The more bananas you use, the sweeter the bread will be, as well as wet. The important thing is that the bananas are ripe. Not only will ripe bananas be easier to crush into a mash, but they will also be much sweeter than unripe ones.
You may also be interested in: How to ripen bananas
2. Mix
the flour, baking powder and cinnamon <img src="https://lianaskitchen.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/adding-cinnamon.jpg" alt="flour, cinnamon
, baking powder” />
Sift the flour in a bowl and add the baking powder and cinnamon. Cinnamon is totally optional, but it gives banana bread a lovely warm taste. Mix these dry ingredients together.
3. Crush the bananas
Peel
the bananas
and break them in a bowl. You can use a potato crusher or fork to mash them into a mash. The mixture does not need to be completely free of lumps, a few small pieces of banana are fine and will taste delicious on the finished banana bread, which gives the cake even more texture.
4. Mix the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla essence
<img src="https://lianaskitchen.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/mix-eggs-sugar-vanilla-essence-oil.jpg" alt=
“mix eggs, sugar, vanilla essence, oil” /> Once you have finished crushing the bananas, add the beaten eggs,
sugar, oil and vanilla essence
.
Gently stir everything to mix
.
5. Add to
the dry flour mixture
Make a well in the center of the dry flour mixture and pour the wet egg mixture. Stir gently together.
6. Transfer to
a baking can
Lightly grease a baking sheet. You can use a round baking can or a bread-style can, depending on what fits in your slow cooker. Check that the can fits in your slow cooker before transferring the banana bread mixture (sounds a bit obvious, but I forgot to do this only to find that the can didn’t fit!)
7. Place the baking pan in the slow cooker
Place the baking pan in the slow cooker bowl, no need to add water or liquid
.
8. Add
a tea towel
Since any moisture created during the slow cooking process has nowhere to go, it’s a good idea to place a tea towel under the lid of the slow cooker. This will help trap any moisture that evaporates and prevent it from dripping back onto the banana bread and making it soggy.
9. Cook over high heat for 2 to 3 hours
The disadvantage of using a tea towel under the lid is that you can no longer spy on banana bread while baking. Try to resist the urge to look within 2 hours, or the heat will escape from the slow cooker and delay the cooking time.
After 2 hours you can remove the lid and check if it is ready. Use a metal skewer to check if it’s done: insert it in the middle and if it comes out clean, it’s ready. I usually find that it is ready after 2 hours, but can be left for 3 hours if necessary.
10. Let stand, cut and serve
<img src="https://lianaskitchen.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/slice-of-banana-bread.jpg" alt="banana bread slice"
/> Let the
baked banana bread cool a little (about 10-20 minutes) before removing it from the can and cutting it.
Did you like this recipe? Let me know in the comments!
Paint it for later!
You May Also Like:
Lemon Drizzle Cake
Easy Flapjacks
Best
Butter Banana Muffins
of All Time
