banana bread

So, banana bread...

I think it became a bit of a fad in the UK during the first lockdown, and is now seen as ‘out of fashion’.

I think people might feel a little bored with baking banana bread, but I want to make a case for it as, for me, it will never lose its appeal. For me, it’s one of the best things to bake. It only takes a few minutes to prepare the batter, and the outcome perfectly straddles the line between sweet and savoury. It is at its best when toasted and smothered in honey butter, but can also be eaten a room temperature as a quick snack.

I love baking banana bread on all occasions, whether or not I have banana’s going a little old. It fills the house with such a lovely aroma, and I know I’ll be sorted for breakfast for the next few days. I like to add a few bitter chocolate chips to my banana bread, but you can sub these out for walnuts, or anything else you fancy adding.

 
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for the banana bread

2 bananas (overripe, if at all possible)

140g butter (room temperature)

140g sugar (I do 120g white + 20g dark brown)

140g self-raising flour

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

a handful of chocolate chips or chopped walnuts

method

  1. Preheat your oven to 180c.

  2. Grease your loaf tin by rubbing a small amount of butter around all of the insides.

  3. In a large bowl, cream together your butter and sugar. Do this by rubbing it between your fingers until all the large chunks of butter have broken apart and the sugar is fully incorporated. Keep going until the mix becomes the same consistency and has lightened a little in colour.

  4. Add the eggs and mix them into the butter and sugar using a spatula or wooden spoon. Make sure they are fully incorporated before moving to the next step.

  5. Add a small amount of flour (1-2 tbsp) and mix in fully.

  6. Roughly break apart the bananas and add them into the mix. I like to keep the chunks fairly big at this stage so that you get the occasional banana chunk in your finished banana bread.

  7. Add the remaining flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and chocolate chips (or whatever you are adding instead). Fold this all in, trying to be as gentle as you can, until everything is fully incorporated and evenly distributed.

  8. Pour into your greased baking tin and give it a little tap on the counter to knock out any air bubbles.

  9. Bake for 30 minutes until it is golden brown on top and a knife comes out clean.

  10. Cool for 20 minutes before trying to remove it from the tin.

  11. Slice and eat with whipped honey butter (whisk a tablespoon of good honey into 100g of salted butter until it fluffs up a little).

 
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