Cafe style banana bread

I am on a quest to find the best banana bread recipe out there. It’s one of my favourite snacks and being named after a fruit, it must be healthy right? Ok I know it’s more like a cake in the shape of bread but that doesn’t slow my search. If you are after a low-calorie version check out my 110 calorie banana bread. This recipe was pretty good but not quite as dense as I’d like. The original recipe didn’t have walnuts either so I added them in. They’re a serious must-have in my banana bread.

Another thing I like about banana bread is that most recipes have two steps; mix the wet ingredients then mix in the dry. This is no exception.

Stir the banana, sugar, eggs, butter, buttermilk and treacle in a large bowl. I didn’t have buttermilk so I substituted it with a milk/lemon juice combo that I learned through Simple Savings. The ratio is about 1 tsp of lemon juice to 1/3 cup of milk and leave it to sit for 5 minutes. I also used honey instead of treacle. Golden syrup is another good substitute.

Now stir through all the dry ingredients until just combined. You don’t want to over-mix banana bread batter.

Finally, add the walnuts. Of course these are optional but banana bread aint banana bread without walnuts in my opinion.

Spread the batter into the tin. I did two little taste-testers as well as my loaf. Bake the bread for about 1 hour or until a tester comes out clean. The smell of cinnamon will delight you as it bakes!

Yum!  In case you’re wondering where the other cupcake is, the answer is in my stomach at that stage. I couldn’t wait to try it fresh out of the oven.

Transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool. I recommend serving the banana bread toasted with butter. Then again there aren’t many things that aren’t better toasted with butter. Enjoy!

Cafe style banana bread – Recipe adapted from Women’s Weekly ‘Bake’ book

• 1 cup mashed banana
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 40g butter, melted
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (hint: use milk with a few tsp of lemon juice if you don’t have buttermilk)
• 1/4 cup treacle (I used honey)
• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 2 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• I added 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 cup crushed walnuts

Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan-forced. Grease a loaf pan and line it, extending the paper over the two long sides.

Combine banana, sugar, eggs, buttermilk and treacle in a large bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients and the walnuts then transfer the mixture to the pan.

Bake for about 1 hour or until a tester comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack.