This is my favourite recipe to make, mainly because we always seem to have an abundance of over-ripe bananas lying around, and also because it’s so damn easy! Like, anyone can do it. I swear.
I know this little lovely off by heart and I’ve been making it for years, but I’m almost certain it’s a very old Mary Berry recipe that I’ve updated over time. So props to MB if so!
I’ve played around with this a lot, I used to make it plain (still delish) and then I added chocolate chips (the perf addition) and even iced it with cream cheese icing, which we thought was too sweet.
Recently I’ve been whipping up a bit of cinnamon butter to sweep over each slice, and it’s the perfect accompaniment. It goes together like peas and carrots, as Forrest would say.
If your bananas aren’t ripe yet, pop them in to the oven (skin still on) while it preheats. The skin turns black and they’ll get a bit hot, but leave ’em to cool for a few minutes and they’re perfectly mashable!
Ingredients
100g salted butter
175g caster sugar
vanilla essence
2 eggs
225g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
100g chocolate chips
2 mashed ripened bananas
2 tablespoons milk
Preheat the oven to 180C, pop in your bananas if needed. Grease a good sized loaf tin and leave to one side.
Leave the butter to soften for a while before you make this, and then cream the softened butter with the sugar. Next, add the eggs and a couple of drops of vanilla essence and beat until combined.
Fold in the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips) but be careful not to overmix, then add the mashed banana and milk – slowly folding a couple of times.
Spread the cinnamon butter over still warm slices for the most incredible combo! I like to take five (minutes, not slices… but also sometimes slices) and sip a cup of tea while having some downtime. Heaven!
Pour the mix in to the greased loaf tin and clean up any spills on the side of the tin. Place on the middle shelf of the oven and leave to cook for around 45minutes to an hour.
The top should be golden, and a knife poked in to the centre should come out clean when the loaf is ready.
Leave the banana bread to cool before gently easing out of the tin. Get a pot of tea on the go, whip up your cinnamon butter and you’re all set.
Cinnamon Butter
This recipe is really down to taste, and I basically wing it every time!
I take a 1/4 cup of salted butter and let it soften, then I add a tablespoon or two of icing sugar and a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and mix with an electric mixer. You can add a little more icing sugar or cinnamon if you’re hardcore.
Spread the cinnamon butter on a still warm piece of banana bread and you’re in for a treat! Keep the rest in the fridge if you’re not using it straight away.
The most delicious weekend treat! Will you be making this?
