Oh my gosh you guys, Bananas are so cheap now!!! I’ve been counting the days until I didn’t need a personal loan to afford a bunch of these golden beauties. My morning porridge has been looking forlorn without its tropical friend added to the breakfast party mix. And banana lollies just don’t cut it these days.
On a serious note, I’m glad that our northern friends in Queensland are getting back to some semblance of normal after the terrible flooding of 2011 wiped out much of their banana crops (tropical Queensland being the banana-crop heaven of Australia).
I might be addicted to banana bread simply because I’ve gone without bananas for so long. But also, it’s pretty darn good. This is another recipe I’ve borrowed from my Mum’s archives. When she found a completely awesome recipe, she jotted it down in her gold-covered notebook, and if it was extra-special it got a sparkly sticker of a star next to it. This recipe is blue-star worthy, people! And yes, Mum is a teacher, how did you guess?
The secret to incredibly flavoursome and fragrant banana bread is to first let the bananas ripen to a blackened state over several days, then freeze them overnight. When you’re ready to bake, let them come to room temperature on their own. Add the extremely mushy banana innards to the ingredients, plus wring-out the banana juice hiding in the soggy skins as well. That part is extra-fun.
Bonus, this recipe is another one-bowl wonder. Less dishes, yay!
Lordy, when I baked this banana bread the scent wafted all over our apartment complex. Seriously, when I came back from shopping I could smell warm banana 5 metres away from the front door. So, you might want a second loaf on the go incase neighbours happen to “randomly” drop by…
BANANA BREAD RECIPE
2 Bananas, mashed
120 g Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Bicarb Soda
1 cup Caster Sugar
2 Large Eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups Self Raising Flour
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a medium loaf tin with non-stick spray.
Place butter and mashed bananas into a saucepan and melt on low heat. Stir in the caster sugar, bicarb soda and milk until the sugar appears to have dissolved. Let the mixture cool to room temperature before stirring in the beaten eggs and flour.
Pour mixture into loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes. Cake is done when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
Serve warm or cool with butter.
Banana cake slices can be frozen and defrosted
