Banana Bread

I love banana bread and the boy has never had it before, since it normally comes with a very large amount of nuts baked in. It's been on my to-do list for ages. I was recently watching Masterchef Australia, and saw Matt Preston making what he called a "cheat's banana bread" - it looked perfect!

So here's his banana bread recipe, for all you poor souls that don't watch Masterchef AU. :D

I'm a big fan of this one because it's sweet but not overly so, and it stays nice and moist even after an hour of cooking. The sugar and bananas give it a nice crisp crust too.

Step 1: Ingredients:

• 3 very ripe bananas - the blacker, the better!
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 125 g butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt

You can also add sweet spices to this - cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, whatever! Nuts are another great addition - 1/2 cup of walnuts or pecans would be amazing.

Step 2: Cream the Butter and Sugar

Cream the butter and sugar together until it's well combined and has turned a light yellow color.

Step 3: Add the Eggs and Bananas

Crack the eggs into the butter and sugar and then add the three bananas. Mine weren't super soft, so I cut them into slices to speed up the process.

Mix this until the bananas have broken down quite a bit. I like to leave some chunks in, but it's best for the next step if it's mostly smooth.

Step 4: Mix in the Flour

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. 

Use a spatula or wooden spoon (no more hand mixer!) to mix the flour into the batter. Keep going until there are no dry spots left.

Step 5: Bake!

Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake at 180 C/350 F for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Pop it out of the pan and let it cool on a wire rack until it's only slightly warm to the touch - if you cut it when it's super hot it will fall apart.

Comments

[grannyjones]

I'm going to try this. 124g = 4.46 ounces = I stick plus 1 tablespoon, for those like me without a gram scale.

[T0BY]

Delicious!

[Thats really cool]

I'm confused, in the recipe you mention baking powder. But in the comments you say baking soda. Wich one do I use?????

[jessyratfink]

Baking powder. I got confused because the commenter said baking soda. :P

[rickdf]

Very good. Thanks!

[rickdf]

Very good. Thanks!

[shirley.williams.9461799]

Just made this for breakfast. Perfect! Thanks...

[jsimscha]

trying this now and the batter was delicious, though I used 2 cups flour. I can't wait to see the finished product, will update.

[makendo]

Nice recipe & great photos. This looks a lot like the banana cake recipe from the Edmonds cookbook (a NZ, and possibly Oz, standard). We chuck old bananas in the freezer and haul them out when we've got enough to make 2 loaves, good way of making sure of never wasting overripe bananas!

[Brian089]

So where Do I Put the baking Soda

[jessyratfink]

Whoops! Mix the baking soda, salt and flour together. Forgot that part. :)

Then you add that mix into the wet ingredients.

[GarthBock]

My grandmother used to mix some extra butter and brown sugar and sprinkle it on top for a kind of like an apple crisp topping. Not sure how she did this but it made a kind of sweet crust.

[connor2205]

Is it possible to add chocolate in the middlr

[connor2205]

That looks amazing I am going to make it right now I am a massive fan

[Stephanefalies]

Looks delicious! Glad to know I'm not the only one who enjoys banana bread sans nuts!

[jcanche]

125 g butter how much is that on cups and is it one teaspoon of baking power of 1/2?

[jessyratfink]

It will be 1/2 cup + one tablespoon. :) And one teaspoon of baking soda.

[M.C. Langer]

Awesome and delicious!!!! :-)

[Tarun Upadhyaya]

That looks sooo good :). Thanks Jessy

[hunter999]

ummmmm! Now that looks good!