Banana bread with figs and maple syrup

I made this banana bread with figs more decadent by cooking 1 pound of fresh figs with some maple syrup, then swirling that into the batter. The end result is a banana bread with fig newton flavors.

The fig maple syrup takes a little extra effort (but not too much), and you can make a double or triple batch to pour over ice cream, waffles, or freeze for another banana bread.

I use melted butter in the batter for flavor. Since butter bakes into a drier texture, I add yogurt to keep it moist.

Jump to:

• Recipe
• Best types of figs and how to use them
• Bananas - quantity and ripeness
• Cook all quick breads to 200-205°F
• More recipes & resources

Recipe

Best types of figs and how to use them

First of all, any variety of fresh figs can be added to this banana bread.

• Black figs, like Mission or Brown turkey, have a slightly more caramel and assertive figgy flavor that pairs well with maple syrup and will taste more like fig newtons.
• Green figs, like Calimyrna and Kadota, have lighter butterscotch flavors that work well with honey. Feel free to swap equal amounts of honey for the maple syrup

Where to buy fresh figs

Depending on where you live, you might be able to find fresh figs at the farmers market. That's ideal as you'll be treated to fruit that was recently picked and riper than at the grocery store. They grow across most of the US, including the Chicago Hardy fig in the cooler Midwest regions.

Fig season in California can last from May to November, but for the rest of the US it's mostly limited to July, August, and September.

You can buy fresh figs at most grocery stores when they are in season as well. I am able to consistently find them at Trader Joe's in August and September.

You can use up under or overripe figs

A fig banana bread or other baked treat like this is a great way to use up imperfect figs or make these fresh fig oatmeal bars.

Under ripe figs can have a harder texture and blander flavor. In this recipe, they benefit from the additional flavor of honey or maple syrup, and soften when cooked.

Very ripe or just slightly overripe figs will be very soft and oozing their syrupy liquid but still smell great. But figs that soft aren't always good for fresh eating (or stuffing with goat cheese or wrapping in bacon). Pureeing them into the syrup removes any consistency problems.

If they smell sour or have gone bad, however, don't use them.

Leave the skins on for ease and flavor

Fig skins are thin and totally edible. When they are pureed, you won't even notice a texture difference. On top of that, the skins really add to the flavor.

The only thing you have to remove is the stem, which is inedible.

How to make the fig syrup

The figs cook down pretty easily, it will just take 20-30 minutes to cook down until it is thick enough. You're looking for a consistency similar to apple sauce.

You'll start by cooking chopped figs with some maple syrup. They will soften in about 10 minutes. At that point, you'll want to either puree them or mash them up for a chunkier syrup. Either option is delicious.

Continue cooking until it's a thicker consistency - you don't want it to be runny.

Once you're ready to add it to the banana bread, swirl it in to leave ribbons around. If you fully mix it in, the flavor won't stand out as much.

Bananas - quantity and ripeness

Banana bread batter is very forgiving, easily adapting to a wide range of banana volume and ripeness. Let's dig a little deeper into it though, so you know what you're getting into.

How to use 2, 3, or 4 bananas

This recipe calls for 3 large bananas, but anywhere from 2-4 still produces a good-textured banana bread, even with the added figs.

The number of bananas will affect the moistness of the muffins as well as the cook time.

• 2 bananas: slightly drier bread that cooks 5-10 minutes faster
• 3 bananas: as written
• 4 bananas: moister bread that needs to cook longer so it doesn't end up gummy, and you might want to add ¼ to ⅓ cup of extra flour

Bananas also contain a fair amount of sugar, so you can adjust the recipe if you want. A large banana contains about 17 grams of sugar, which is about 4 teaspoons of sugar (equal to 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon). You can remove (or add) sugar based on the number of bananas you use.

Ripeness affects flavor much more than texture

Banana bread can be made with ripe and overripe bananas. Most people report that the banana flavor is more prominent with overripe bananas.

However, the differences between the moisture and sugar content of bananas as various stages is negligible. Here are the differences when comparing an overripe banana that has brown and black sections all over the peel to a slightly ripe banana that is yellow with faint green edges:

• Overripe banana has about 2 grams more sugar (½ teaspoon)
• Overripe banana has about 5 grams more water (⅓ teaspoon)

If you add that up across 3 bananas, you get a difference of 1.5 teaspoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of water for the entire batch of banana bread. So as you can see, using ripe or overripe bananas will yield similar results.

These values are based on the study titled "Dietary fiber, starch, and sugars in bananas at different stages of ripeness in the retail market," by Phillips et al., 2021.

Cook all quick breads to 200-205°F

The main key to success when baking banana bread is to cook it to the right temperature. You're aiming for 200-205°F with a quick read thermometer.

Here's what happens if you don't cook it to the right temperature:

• Overcooked banana bread will be dry (but can be mostly fixed with a thick slab of butter)
• Under-cooked banana bread is gummy and the best chance at fixing it is to toast slices in the oven to dry them out

I've never had much luck with the toothpick test. Once I got a quick read thermometer, I never had a gummy banana bread again. I use it way more often for baking than I do for cooking meat.

I bought the gold-standard Thermapen (it is pricey but extremely well made and reliable if it fits within your budget).

More recipes & resources

Want to try other fun banana bread recipes? Here's a few that caught my eye:

• Strawberry banana bread from Love & Olive Oil
• Pineapple coconut banana bread from The View from Great Island
• Triple berry banana bread from My Baking Addiction

If you love using fresh figs, try my homemade oatmeal fig bars with fresh figs - it's one of my most popular recipes. If you're looking for other quick breads, but without bananas, I've got those too!

More quick bread recipes

For more ways to use up bananas, try these banana pecan muffins with twice the nuts and half the sugar as other recipes or these peanut butter banana muffins with whole wheat to amp up the nutty flavor (and make for a healthy treat too!)