I Baked Chrissy Teigen's Banana Bread, and the Entire Box of Vanilla Pudding Mix Is What Makes It

When I think of celebrity chefs, Chrissy Teigen is always, without a doubt, my number one. The Cravings author is behind some of the most delicious recipes, from her creamy cacio e pepe to her sweet and salty Chex Mix chocolate chip cookies. But it's one of her more basic recipes that everyone seems to be trying lately — her famous banana bread from her cookbook Cravings: Hungry For More — and for good reason: it's freakin' delicious.

I've been searching for a really good banana bread recipe, and with all of this extra time at home right now, I've been able to experiment. And anyone who has ever searched for "banana bread recipes" knows just how many there are out there. Which one do you choose?! From my experience, most banana bread recipes turn out dry or overly saturated with the same two flavours, but this one is hands down my favourite. The batch can work as a loaf, a bundt cake, muffins, or really in any way, especially with warm butter or vanilla ice cream. It's like dessert for breakfast, and we are so here for it.

The recipe calls for standard ingredients like sugar and eggs, but there are also a few twists. Not only do you add a whole cup of shredded coconut (something I never thought would compliment banana so well), you also add an entire box of vanilla pudding mix! It's as if Chrissy threw in whatever was leftover in her pantry and somehow came out with the most incredible flavour combination of all time. There's a nice balance with all of the sweetness and the dark chocolate, and even the most sceptical banana fans will go crazy for it.

Chrissy Teigan's Banana Bread

Cravings: Hungry For More by Chrissy Teigen

Notes

Gluten-Free: Substitute oat or almond flour instead of all-purpose flour.
Vegan: Use vegan chocolate chips and substitute flax eggs instead of whole eggs.

Ingredients

1. 2 cups of mashed bananas (about 5-6 bananas)
   4 eggs
   2/3 cups canola oil
   2/3 cups all-purpose flour (and extra to dust pan with)
   2 cups of sugar
   1 box of vanilla instant pudding mix
   1 teaspoon of baking soda
   1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt
   1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
   1 (3.5 oz) bar of dark chocolate (chopped into chunks)
   Salted butter optional for serving

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2. In a large bowl, mix the mashed bananas, eggs, and oil and set aside.
3. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, and pudding mix. Mix the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients, but avoid using a mixer. Do this part manually to keep the end result nice and fluffy.
4. Chop up the dark chocolate bar. Add that and the shredded coconut to the batter.
5. Grease the pan (this means rubbing lots of butter all over it) and coat the butter in a layer of flour. Flip the pan upside down to shake out the excess flour.
6. Bake until the cake bounces back when pressed or if a toothpick comes out clean when poked in. Depending on the pan, your baking time will vary. With a bundt pan, estimate around 60-80 minutes, depending on how deep it is. Let it cool for about 10 minutes and flip it onto a clean plate or tray for serving.
7. Enjoy it warm with butter or a scoop of ice cream! Keep it either refrigerated or left out in an airtight container.

Information

Category

Desserts

Yield

Serves roughly 12

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

60 minutes

Total Time

1 hour, 19 minutes, 59 seconds