From America's Test Kitchen I was skeptical about this recipe at first, but since I've made this now twice I know the method of exracting the juice from the banana's and reducing the liquid is the best way to make banana bread. Give this a try just once. It's has just two extra steps but well worth the little bit of extra work! From America's Test Kitchen: Why this recipe works: Recipes for ultimate banana bread abound, but because they include an overload of bananas for flavor, the bread’s texture is often soggy. We wanted a moist, not mushy, loaf that tasted of banana through and through. To impart lots of banana flavor, we needed to use a generous amount of bananas, but we needed to rid them of excess moisture. We turned to the microwave to help us out. We piled as many bananas in a bowl as we dared and zapped them in the microwave. Then we drained the now-pulpy fruit and mixed the fruit into a batter. We didn’t want to toss the flavorful liquid, so we reduced it and added it into the batter as well. Like a mock extract, our reduction infused the bread with ripe, intensely fruity banana flavor. With the flavor problem solved, a few minor tweaks completed the recipe: We exchanged the granulated sugar for light brown sugar, finding that the latter’s molasses notes better complemented the bananas. Swapping out the oil for the nutty richness of butter improved the loaf further. We also added toasted walnuts to the batter, finding that their crunch provided a pleasing contrast to the rich, moist crumb. Wondering if the crust might benefit from a little embellishment, we sliced a banana and shingled it on top of the batter. A final sprinkle of sugar helped the buttery slices caramelize and gave this deeply flavored loaf an enticingly crisp, crunchy top.