Chrissy Teigen Vs. Joanna Gaines: Banana Bread
We're obsessed with both of these ladies - for their hair, husbands, careers, and food. Especially the food. Fixer Upper star Joanna Gaines' bakery in Texas is our actual real life goal, and our copy of Chrissy Teigen's cookbook Cravings is book marked from cover to cover. And while this odd matchup of celebs may never meet IRL, their wolds collided in the Delish test kitchen, thanks to banana bread.
We were anxious to see Joanna's classic and subtle baking approach could compete with Chrissy's irreverent kitchen take. And now you're curious too. Here's how their recipes stacked up.
CHRISSY'S RECIPE
When Chrissy went on a Twitter rampage about not having ripe bananas when making banana bread, the world responded. And her recipe (slated to be in her next cookbook, #cravings2, as she refers to it on social media, was famous before anyone knew what it really was. Lucky for us, she decided to share it on Instagram.
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A few things immediately stood out to us: vanilla pudding, shredded (unsweetened) coconut, the bundt pan, and Irish butter. We've added pudding mix to cake before and were extremely happy with the results - it makes cake extra moist (sorry!). But we had never thought to add it to banana bread. Verdict? We're adding pudding mix to all banana breads from now on.
The coconut is subtle. Some so-called coconut haters couldn't even tell it was in there. I loved it, others couldn't care less. The bundt pan, on the other hand, was loved all around. Not only does it make banana bread more beautiful, but it increases the amount of caramelized crust, which everyone knows is the best part. And as for the Irish butter, Chrissy recommends serving on warm banana bread slices. LISTEN to CHRISSY.
JOANNA'S RECIPE
On paper, Joanna's banana bread isn't as exciting. All of the ingredients are pretty standard, and there are no mix-ins like nuts or chocolate (even though her blog post pictures make it seem like there are pecans). The only thing that surprised us was the 9-x-13" pan.
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One major of the bigger baking vessel is the shorter baking time. Most banana breads baked in loaf pans take about an hour. Joanna's was done in 30 minutes. But the shorter oven time comes at a price: there is no crust. The entire top of the bread was pale and spongy - not golden and caramelized. This was a HUGE deal to the Delish team.
Taste-wise, the opinions were mixed. Some people thought it was perfectly sweet; others thought it was tré boring. Overall, no one was blown away.
THE VERDICT
The vote was unanimous. Chrissy's recipe wins for its flavor and crust ... and chocolate. So the next time you have six super brown bananas laying around the kitchen, give hers a try.
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