Give Banana Bread A Texture And Flavor Boost With This Chewy Mix-In

Banana bread is so easy to customize that some additions have become a cliché. While chocolate chips or nuts make a delicious loaf, for a more creative mix-in with a one-two punch of flavor and texture, dried fruit is your BBBFF, or banana bread best friend forever.

In this case, there are a few reasons why dried fruit (which is different from freeze-dried) can be better. The drying process concentrates the fruits' sweetness and flavor, so they'll have a stronger presence in the finished bread, and the tender yet chewy texture provides a delectable contrast to the soft crumb. Dried fruit is also available in a huge variety, so you can unleash your creativity with mix-and-match combos, from fluffy sweet potato banana bread with dried golden raisins or dates to pumpkin banana bread with autumnal dried figs and apples.

Additionally, tossing fresh fruit as opposed to dried fruit into your basic banana bread (or any baked good) is trickier than it seems. The pieces easily release their juices and bleed their colors as the batter bakes, creating soggy and gummy pockets throughout. Watery fruits, like berries and peaches, can be especially problematic. You can avoid an unappealing texture and appearance by pre-cooking the fruit, but banana bread is meant to be quick and simple. With dried fruit, all you have to do is chop up any larger pieces and carefully mix them into your batter.

Whether you pick from the many dried fruits at Trader Joe's or just head to your local market, you might find classics like cranberries and plums or fruits uncommon in the U.S. that aren't available near you in fresh form. As an easy starting option, pair a loaf of brown butter banana bread with dried sour cherries, which lend every slice some sweet-tartness to complement the nutty brown butter — even better with some pecans or walnuts.

Like chocolate? Try breaking dried orange slices into pieces for olive oil chocolate chip banana bread. Oranges have a natural affinity for chocolate and provide a refreshing contrast to the rich olive oil and banana. Spiced chocolate rum banana bread would also be divine with citrus, or chopped apricots soaked in even more rum.

For the prettiest bread you ever saw, make 3-layer banana split bread and mix different dried fruits into each layer. Crushed pineapple goes into the yellow part, so complement it with dried coconut, kiwi, or mango, and the strawberries in the pink layer go well with dried raspberries. You may want to decrease the amount of fresh fruit in the batter to make room for the dried fruits, or simply replace the fresh with dried.