
In Japan, the only time ordinary supermarkets carry whole chickens is for Christmas, which inevitably means big discounts once the holiday is over. The other day, I spotted a freezer full of frozen birds for half off, and I couldn't resist buying a few. But this being Japan, home freezers are not very big, and mine is always filled to the brim with random things I'm trying to preserve. Fitting both birds into the freezer would have meant emptying almost the whole freezer, so I opted to defrost and eat one and clear space for the other.
As I was excavating the depths of my icebox, I came across a vacuum-sealed pack of overripe bananas and the last few blueberries we'd picked from a local farm last summer. This mashup of blueberry muffins and banana bread was the result. I did it in a loaf pan, but I think I'd turn these into muffins if I were going to do this again.

Units
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 325 grams all purpose flour lightly scooped if using cup measurements
- 100 grams brown sugar packed if using cup measurements
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Add to dry ingredients
- 100 grams frozen blueberries
Wet ingredients
- 85 grams unsalted cultured butter melted and slightly cooled
- 2 large eggs
- 350 grams very ripe banana
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Put the oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Sift all dry ingredients together through a wire strainer and then whisk until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Add the blueberries and stir to coat them evenly with flour.
- Using a food processor or blender, emulsify the eggs and melted butter together.
- Add the bananas, yogurt, and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
- Dump the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until they form a batter. Be careful not to overmix this, or your banana bread will turn out tough.
- Transfer the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out dry.
- Let the loaf cool completely before slicing.
Comments
No Comments