Who ever coined the term 'banana bread' was on to a winner. Flung into the market, it was on every Tom, Dick and Café's menu faster than you can say 'lashings of butter'. We were fooled, for a while, that this tasty little morsel was in fact bread - a justifiable breakfast item, like rye, sour dough or fruit toast.
But ladies and gents, its just cake, in a loaf-shape, that you toast and drown in butter (real butter for best results). So it is doubly wicked for all those watching their figures that you take this piece of cake and calorie-fy it by adding butter.
None the less, it is super delicious and call it what you like, it is one of my personal faves.
But better than buying banana bread is making it. So I'm going to give you a foolproof recipe.
The best thing about this is it uses old bananas. So those unattractive ones that spend a week at the bottom of your bag, or lay forgotten in the fruit bowl are just the ones that this recipe call for. With more and more
offices ordering fruit boxes, here is a way to use up those uneaten
na-na's from the end of the week...plus your workmates will be suitably impressed when you turn up to work on Monday morning with freshly baked, homemade banana bread for morning tea to boost office morale.
I have a friend who thought layering store bought biscuits with cream, squidging them together and putting it in the fridge to set was baking, and even he can make this! That is my near-iron clad guarantee that you can make this recipe.
Ingredients -
110g butter
1tsp vanilla essence
¼ cup milk
1 ½ cups SR flour
¾ cup loosely packed brown sugar (I find the brown sugar adds a certain somethin' somethin' to the recipe but you can substitute this for whatever sugar you want, sugar)
2 eggs
½ tsp bicarb soda
3 bananas
Method -
Cream butter and sugar.
Add vanilla and one egg at a time, beating well.
Add mashed bananas.
Dissolve soda in milk.
Add sifted flour and finally milk and soda
Bake in lined tin at 180 degrees until sides of cake come away from tin (depending on oven this could be anywhere between 15-40 mins – yes this isn't a great time frame, but just ensure it is cooked on the inside too by sticking a skewer in the centre – if it comes out clean...voila!)
I've made these as muffins too and they work perfectly, but note they usually need less cooking time.
You can value add to this recipe by adding chopped figs, chopped crystallised ginger, choc bits, frozen or fresh berries. The world is your oyster kilpatrick.
