BANANA BREAD

This is a really quick and easy bake – perfect for using up brown bananas from the fruitbowl.  Have it with a cup of coffee or eat with yoghurt and berries for breakfast.

Servings

8

Ready In:

1 hr

Lever:

Beginner

Skills covered

Baking, Weights and measures

Banana Bread

By: Chloe Coker

Banana bread is an easy storecupboard recipe and a great way to use up brown bananas.  Simply stir the ingredients together and pop it in the oven.

Ingredients

  • 3 ripe bananas
  • 125g butter, melted
  • 60g brown sugar (or use caster sugar if you don’t have brown)
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • pinch of salt 
  • 175g plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 

 

  • optional: 50g porridge oats
  • optional: sultanas, handful
  • optional: 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp oats to top

For A Gluten Free Version replace the plain flour with either 

  • 125g GF Flour and 50g ground almonds or just 175g GF Flour (plus 1 tsp xantham gum if you have it)
  • 100g buckwheat and 75g GF Flour 

Instructions

 Step 1

Preheat the oven to 180*c and line a 900g / 2 lb loaf tin 

Step 2

Melt the butter and set aside

Step 3

Mash the bananas with a fork and place in a bowl.  Add the melted butter, sugars, eggs and salt. Stir until well combined.  Sieve in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and fold through.  Stir through the oats and sultanas if you are using them

Step 4

Pour the mixture into the lined loaf tin.  If you would like a crunchy top, stir together 1 tbsp porridge oats with 1 tbsp sugar and sprinkle over the top

Step 5

Bake for 45min – 1 hour until well risen and golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Cool on a rack and serve 

Tips, Tricks and Teaching Info

Preheat your oven

Always preheat your oven before you begin so that the cake goes into a hot oven, otherwise it will not rise properly

Line your tin

Lining your tin stops your cake from sticking.  You can buy loaf tin liners or simply cut a large piece of baking paper – scrunch it up into a ball and then unfold it again so that it is all crumpled – that way it will bend right into the corners of the tin

Melted method cakes

Melted method cakes use melted butter.  The rise comes from the baking powder, not from trapping air through whisking. You want to get your cake into the oven as soon as possible after mixing all of the ingredients together as the raising agents will start working straight away

Crunchy toppings for cakes

You can add a nice crunchy topping to takes by mixing a tbsp of sugar with a tbsp of oats or chopped nuts