If you're anything like me, you'll remember the spelling of bananas simply because of Gwen Stefani. And if your family is anything like my family, you'll always have a few bananas sitting unloved in the fruit bowl. Yesterday I decided to make a banana loaf to satisfy my sweet-tooth cravings and conquer the fruit bowl. I couldn't find a recipe I liked (aka had the majority of the ingredients for) in our cook books so decided to trawl the internet for inspiration - FYI, finding good recipes only for them to be in American measurements (cups) gets pretty frustrating.
I managed to find a recipe of Sophie Dahl's which was posted on her site 'At The Kitchen Table', which I then had to adapt a bit as I typically still didn't have enough of all of the ingredients. After a failed choc-chip muffin attempt last week (which I obviously won't be posting more about), I was so happy when this loaf cake turned out wonderfully, with the stamp of approval from my family too - especially my Dad, self proclaimed King of the Banana Loaf. I added chocolate chips on top to fulfil my chocolate addiction - I would completely recommend it (it added that extra yum), but if you'd rather kid yourself you're being healthy without them, or save this recipe for over lent, feel free to leave them out - it's still a kick-ass banana loaf recipe without them. The method written isn't one I found online - none were that explicit, more like 'throw everything in' so I had to try and work it out myself - as it turned out so well, I thought it would be better just to explain the steps I followed/made up!
The Ultimate Banana Loaf
Ingredients: 75g soft butter, 150g soft brown sugar, 1 tsp agave nectar, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1tbs vanilla extract, 170g spelt flour, 1 beaten egg, a pinch of salt, dark chocolate chips, your very ripe bananas (I used two and a half as it was all I had, but feel free to add more - the original recipe said 4!)
You will need to preheat your oven to 180c (160c for a fan oven or gas mark 4)
Method:
1. Mash your bananas with a fork, then add your soft butter and egg and beat. Then add the sugar, agave nectar and vanilla extract and stir in with a wooden spoon.
2. Sieve in your spelt flour and add your bicarbonate of soda and salt then beat again. If your butter looks a bit funny (as mine did at this point) - don't panic (as I did).
3. Spoon the mixture into your pre-lined loaf tin and sprinkle chocolate chips on top, if you wish. Bake for an hour, or until your take tester comes out clean.
This is delicious eaten warm out of the oven or cold. Feel free to gently re-heat it later, if you enjoy your banana bread warm or toasted!
Liv x
(this recipe was based upon that of Sophie Dahl, which is credited here: http://www.sophiedahl.com/2014/03/banana-bread/ - this will also be useful if you're American as it contains your metric system!)
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