Banana bread surely had its moment last year when the good old classic rose to fame during lockdown last year. But unlike most things that have their fast and brief moments of fame, banana bread will never disappear or become any less awesome.
Why was everybody baking banana bread during lockdown though?
Did they perhaps buy a bunch of bananas with every intention of sticking to a healthy routine by consuming it as part of their recommended daily fruit intake or a healthy morning smoothie, only to find a week later, long forgotten, bruised and black bananas on their kitchen counter. And thinking to yourself, this is after all a world-wide pandemic, food wastage would be frowned upon, so the only option would be to turn these bananas into banana bread. With your mind totally set on not being wasteful, and having not been allowed to be in contact with others, and just to reiterate, you reeeaaallyy didn’t want to waste, you end up eating an entire loaf of banana bread within an embarrassingly short period. So yah, I’m sure that’s why everybody ended up baking banana bread.
I’ve always loved banana bread. As kids my mom made this for us on a regular basis, but I’m sure my youngest sister was the biggest fan. On our birthdays, we could put in a request for what type of birthday cake we wanted. My mom made some really kick-ass cakes and between her and my dad (on design and cutting duty) we could basically request whatever our hearts desired and they made it happen. Birthday cakes weren’t as elaborate as they are these days and we went on what we saw in recipe books and contributed some of our own ideas. We debated weeks in advance what we’d choose. From a kitten in a basket to a clown with cheese curls for hair or a bunny with liquorice whiskers, you know, the classics, pre-Pinterest.
So, with this in mind, my youngest sister, I think it was her 7th or 8th birthday could now choose which ever cake she desired. Her choice… a banana shaped banana bread topped with caramel treat. She got exactly that!
Banana bread is also a great entry level recipe that you can make with your kids. If all your
measurements are correct, not much can go wrong.
Tips:
Use butter instead of margarine, like always...
Brown sugar gives a moister and chewier texture
Use really ripe bananas, if you’re thinking eewww these bananas are too ripe, then they’re
perfect
Grease your tins with butter, no need for baking paper
This banana bread recipe is moist and actually tastes of banana. I always add in chopped up chocolate to my batter. Choc-chip anything is always the better option.
Banana Bread Variations:
If you even manage to feel a bit over plain old banana bread, or if you have more than just three ripe bananas, you could always try out one of these… or all – no judgement!
Instead of adding chocolate chips, you can add
- fresh blueberries
- half a tsp of cinnamon
- chopped walnuts
- two tbsp of peanut butter
or try;
- Banana bread French toast with cream fresh and golden syrup
- Banana bread trifle with caramelized bananas and toasted coconut
- Banana bread, bread pudding
You will need:
Electric mixer
1 large mixing bowl
3 medium mixing bowls
Measuring cups and spoons
2 small loaf pans (7 x 13 x 23cm)
Knife and a chopping board
Yields: 2 small loafs
Chocolate chip Banana Bread
Ingredients:
125 g Butter, softened
1 ½ c Brown sugar
3 Large eggs
25ml Milk, room temperature (try Almond milk for a milk substitute)
5ml Vanilla extract
1 c Mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium bananas)
2 c Cake Flour
10ml Baking Powder
80g Milk / Dark Chocolate (I used Cadbury’s)
Pinch of salt
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180°C. Grease your loaf tins.
Measure out your ingredients. In a large mixing bowl combine the butter and brown sugar, whisk together until creamy. Add the eggs, vanilla extract and milk, whisk until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well, no need to sift. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture using an electric mixer. Only mix until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated properly.
Chop your chocolate into chunks. I cut each block of chocolate roughly into four chunks, to give you an idea of side. Don’t chop the chocolate too small, as it will melt into the batter when baked. Fold the chocolate chips into your batter using a silicon scraper.
Transfer the batter into the loaf pans equally. Try to share the chocolate chips evenly while scooping the mixture into the pans. Place both pans in the middle of your oven and bake at 180°C for about an hour. Check to see if cooked through by sticking a skewer in the middle of the loaf, if it doesn’t come out clean, leave for a few more minutes and test again. When the skewer comes out clean, remove the pans from the oven and allow the loaf to cool in the pans for 15min. Turn over the pans and remove the loaves, allow to further cool on a cooling rack.This is the tough part – allow the loaves to cool completely before cutting them. The banana bread gets even better after a day or two, if it ever lasts that long.
Now if you have the willpower to not polish the entire loaf and you want to store or freeze the banana bread, you can do so by tightly wrapping it in cling wrap and then in foil. You can then wrap it in another layer of cling wrap or put it in a zip seal bag, just to be extra sure no moister can get in. This should last up to 3 months in the freezer.
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