After 2020, most people might be a bit tired of banana bread as it became a symbol of people turning to baking during lockdown. However, I do think a good banana bread recipe should be in every bakers repertoire and this one is mine.
I’m sure most people with toddlers have experienced when they love something, they seem to want it all the time and then suddenly (once you’ve gone and bought a lot more of it) they suddenly don’t fancy it anymore – well this is what little madam often does with bananas. I have to admit, I myself am not the biggest fan of bananas as they are because of the texture, but I do really like their flavour so I prefer them in smoothies and in cakes. This recipe is also a great way to use up those bananas that have started to go brown as they will be at their most sweetest. I often use dark chocolate chunks, but you can swap these for milk or white chocolate and also add any chopped nuts to give a crunchy texture – I find toasted hazelnuts or walnuts work really well. I also prefer to mash and then blend in my bananas to avoid finding some random lumps of banana through out the cake. If you would prefer to have the lumps, I would suggest folding in the banana at the end of mixing before adding your chocolate/nuts.
Ingredients:
- 175g Butter/Margarine
- 175g Caster Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs
- 2 very ripe Bananas
- 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 175g Self-Raising Flour
- 100g Dark Chocolate Chunks
Method:
- Preheat your oven (170⁰C Fan/190⁰c/375F/Gas Mark 5) and line a loaf tin.
- Peel your bananas and mash them in a separate bowl and put to the side.
- Beat together your butter/margarine and sugar until the mixture is light in colour and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs one at at time.
- Beat in the mashed bananas and vanilla extract.
- Mix in the flour, being careful not to overmix.
- Fold in the dark chocolate chunks.
- Pour mixture into your prepared loaf tin and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and ten minutes in the middle of your oven until baked through.
Aside from my previous mention of when to incorporate the bananas, I have a couple of other side notes to add to the above. Should your cake start to become too overcooked on the top, cover it lightly with a piece of tin foil for the remainder of the cooking time. You can also sprinkle a little demerara sugar on top of the mixture before baking to add a crunchy topping.
Now, enjoy a generous slice with a hot cuppa and your feet up!
Nicola Cañaveras 