The Uncut Gems star does wonders with a pile of mushy bananas.
I’m a Julia Fox stan, and I’m not afraid to say it. She shines across multiple disciplines: modeling, acting, viral TikTok moments, and now…baking? When a video of her making banana bread in her apartment showed up TikTok recently, I knew that I had to try her recipe.
Fox takes us on a step-by-step journey of transforming “yucky bananas” into a loaf of soft, moist goodness. She’s pretty thorough in her tutorial, but some things were still up in the air. I filled in the blanks using my intuition and some hints from Delish’s own banana bread recipe.
First, I mixed a stick of butter and 3/4 cup of sugar in a bowl. Then came the bananas—Julia didn’t disclose how many bananas she used, but I deduced that she used four small ones. Then I went to work with a spatula.
Several minutes and a rigorous arm workout later, I was ready for the next step. Julia cracked two eggs and took the “guts” out before adding them to the batter. By guts, she means the chalaza, which anchors the yolk in the center of the egg. I normally leave it in, but I was following her recipe as closely as possible—so I took out the guts too.
Next I mixed my dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking soda. I was honestly pretty startled by the small amount of flour. Only 1/2 cup? That’s less flour than sugar! I was skeptical, but whatever Julia says goes.
Before I combined the wet and dry ingredients, I added some flavoring per her recipe. I’m used to vanilla extract in banana bread recipes, but supplementing it with almond extract was a welcome change. Then I finally mixed the rest of the batter together.
Before it went into the oven, I “obviously” had to add chocolate chips. Julia didn’t give an amount, so I just threw in a handful. Then it went into the pan (an Ikea 8″x10″ pan, to be specific). Yeah, I don’t have a loaf pan. Sue me.
Then Julia instructs us to bake the bread for an hour. But at what temperature? Based on my prior banana bread knowledge and Delish’s recipe, I set my oven to 350°. Cut to one hour later, and here’s what came out of my oven.Not gonna lie, I was nervous. It didn’t rise much, and all the air bubbles that popped on the surface were slightly worrying. But I couldn’t judge it until I tasted it.
The cross section inspired more hope. And I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised by this banana bread. It’s definitely the moistest of any recipe I’ve tried, and I think it would keep its soft, spongy texture even after several days. I was craving some more crunch though, so I would recommend adding some chopped nuts or sprinkling coarse sugar on top before baking.
The almond extract made a huge difference in the flavor, too. It was subtle, but I could definitely notice it with each bite. Just like Julia, I accompanied my slices with Noccialata hazelnut spread. It may seem like an afterthought, but it’s essential. How come I’ve never tried this before? It’s like Nutella without the chocolate. You can definitely use standard Nutella in a pinch, but this spread is worth the hunt.
Overall, I’m a fan of this banana bread. The next time you see Julia Fox cooking on your TikTok feed, you should follow her recipe.
