Banana Bread

Banana Bread

60 min bake, 170°C fan, 2lb loaf tin, makes 1

Ingredients

ripe bananas       400g (3–4)
butter             115g
soft brown sugar   150g
eggs               2
plain yogurt       3 tbsp
vanilla            1 tsp
plain flour        250g
bicarbonate soda   1 tsp
salt               1/2 tsp
cinnamon           1 tsp

The blacker and softer the bananas, the sweeter the loaf. In a hurry, bake them unpeeled at 150°C for 15 min until the skins go black.
Brown the butter first for a nutty, caramel depth. The single biggest flavour upgrade.
Yogurt keeps it moist, sour cream works too. Cinnamon is optional.

Recipe

1. Heat the oven to 170°C fan and line a 2lb loaf tin with paper.

2. Melt the butter. For the best flavour, keep it on the heat until it foams, smells nutty and turns golden brown, then leave to cool a little.

3. Mash the bananas in a big bowl until fairly smooth.

4. Whisk into the bananas until well combined:

[butter 115g melted, soft brown sugar 150g, eggs 2, plain yogurt 3 tbsp, vanilla 1 tsp]

5. Add the dry ingredients and fold with a spatula just until no dry flour remains. Stop there, overmixing is the one thing that toughens the loaf:

[plain flour 250g, bicarbonate soda 1 tsp, salt 1/2 tsp, cinnamon 1 tsp]

6. Pour into the tin. Bake 55–65 min until deep golden and a skewer comes out with only a few moist crumbs. If the top browns before the centre sets, lay foil over it halfway.

7. Cool in the tin 10 min, then turn out onto a rack. It slices best fully cool.

Fold in 100g chocolate chunks or toasted walnuts at the end of step 5 if you like.
Keeps 3–4 days wrapped, or freezes well, whole or in slices.