Introduction
Banana bread is a moist, sweet loaf cake made with very ripe bananas. It is the perfect use for brown, spotty bananas nobody wants to eat, it keeps for days wrapped up, and it freezes well in slices. Eat it for breakfast, as a snack or with a cup of tea.
It is an American recipe. Quick breads, raised with baking soda or baking powder instead of yeast, became common in the United States in the 19th century, and banana bread recipes spread through cookbooks in the 1930s, when thrifty cooks used up overripe fruit. It is one of the easiest things to bake: one bowl, a fork, and no mixer.
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas (about 350 g peeled)
- 75 g melted butter, plus a little for the tin
- 120 g brown or white sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- a pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 190 g plain flour
- 60 g chopped walnuts (optional)
Tools
- A large mixing bowl and a fork
- A loaf tin of about 22 × 11 cm
- An oven
- A kitchen scale
Preparation
- Heat the oven to 175 °C (155 °C fan). Butter the tin and line it with baking paper.
- Mash the bananas in the bowl with the fork until almost smooth.
- Stir in the melted butter, then the sugar, egg and vanilla.
- Sprinkle over the baking soda, salt and cinnamon and stir. Add the flour and the walnuts and stir just until no dry flour is left. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until a skewer in the centre comes out clean. If the top browns too fast, cover it with foil.
- Leave it in the tin for 10 minutes, then lift it out and let it cool before slicing.