As promised, here's the recipe to, possibly, the best Banana Bread! And, definitely one you can quickly knock up in time for this weekend.
All you need are a couple of those bananas you've got sitting in your fruit bowl that have gone that little bit too brown for you to happily nibble on, and a few cupboard staples.
If you don't follow us on instagram or facebook, you'll have missed Mr Bakery Den and my efforts, baking this together. We made it gluten free & vegan, meaning we could both eat it. You can also make this nut free if necessary - just omit the pecans at the very end. If you did miss our stories, I will add them to our highlights over on instagram, so take a look to see us actually working together!
We also used a little bit of easter chocolate (to save Mr Bakery Den having eaten all of his before even reaching Easter Sunday). Add to that, a little bit of cocoa powder, and pecans, you've got the making for a scrumptious banana loaf!
If you haven't made banana bread before, theres not much that can go wrong, so it's a perfect way to do a bit of baking, to fill your days or bake with the family. One key thing you need are ripe bananas. And by ripe, I mean, those slightly squishy bananas that you pick out the fruit bowl, and then put back because they've gone a bit brown and you know they would have those bruised bits when you peel them. Those ones. They're perfect! I say that, because they're the perfect consistency to be able to mash down.
Another key ingredient for our recipe was a flax egg. Or two, to be precise. This is because we made a vegan version. If you don't need it to be vegan, check out our Peanut Butter & Pecan Banana Bread from a previous post. You can substitute the peanut butter for chocolate - or just use both - I won't judge! A Flax egg, is a mixture of milled flax seeds and water, left to gel for 5-10 before you use it.
If you don't make anything else during this lockdown, you should definitely try making this at least once! I know that I'm just counting down the days until those bananas turn, so that I can bake another batch haha!
We also used FreeFrom plain flour for this recipe. Because we needed it gluten free. If you don't, you can use regular plain flour. But, if you don't have plain flour, and the only thing you have is self-raising, don't worry! Substitute the Plain flour for SR flour 1:1, and reduce the amount of baking powder down to 1stp instead of 3tsp.
Tell me that this doesn't look good? Sorry, I won't babble on any longer....
Ingredients:
4 ripe bananas
75ml vegetable oil
100g soft brown sugar
225g FreeFrom plain flour
3tsp baking powder
3tsp ground cinnamon
2 flax eggs
2tbsp cocoa powder
40g vegan chocolate (or any chocolate if not df)
1tsp vanilla extract
Pecans to decorate
Method:
Prepare your two flax eggs - that is, 2tbsp ground flax seeds, mixed with 5tbsp water.
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC (fan), and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper.
In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas, until they resemble baby food. Add the oil and caster sugar, and beat until combined.
Add your flax egg (or actual eggs is Ve is not required), and vanilla extract - beat.
Sift in dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and fold through.
Chop the chocolate in to smallish chunks, and add 80% to the mixture, and fold through.
Pour the batter in to your prepared loaf tin.
Sprinkle the remaining chocolate on to the top of the mixture, and sprinkle over pecan pieces to decorate (optional).
Bake for 30 minutes in the centre of a pre-heated oven.
After 30 minutes, cover with tin foil, and continue to bake for another 25-30 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes, before turning out on to a cooling rack.
Store in tinfoil in a cake/biscuit tin for up to 1 week.
Hope some of you enjoy making this one as much as we did! Don't forget to tag us @thebakeryden in your photos on instagram or facebook if you try it out!
Happy lockdown x