March 31, 2017
Last week my belongings from Melbourne finally arrived! I was so excited, it meant that I finally had all of my stuff in one place, and felt completely at home back in Brisbane. It was a bit weird for three weeks knowing that half of my stuff was in one place, and half of it in a truck, but now that it’s all in one place, I feel so much better. There’s nothing like feeling finally settled in a place, but more importantly feeling like it’s your own. Now that I have all my trinkets, books and other bits and pieces, I feel so much better.
More importantly, this has meant that all that baking I’ve been holding off for three weeks until my baking stuff arrived could finally happen! I was just waiting for all of my cooking stuff to arrive, and this was probably what I was most excited about getting. My partner has gotten right into cooking, which is awesome, but I kept saying to him ‘oh that’s in the truck, we’ll have that soon’ and I am so excited for the cooking that we have ahead of us now that we have all the tools (and a very full utensils cupboard). It also meant I finally had my baking stuff, and I was so excited to get into baking again that as soon as I’d finished unpacking, I found a recipe to try.
We had a couple of leftover bananas and so I thought, since I had my loaf tin back, I would be able to cook them into some tasty banana bread. I love how easy banana bread is to prepare and make, and how delicious it is at the end. It’s also versatile as you can easily make it into a bit of a treat for breakfast, or a snack to take to work. Although normally I’d probably try to make it a little healthy, I was feeling pretty exhausted from unpacking everything, and so decided that I would try something new this time around. You can’t be healthy all the time right?
It felt so good to get back into the kitchen and bake, honestly I think it is the way I relax. I feel I always need to be doing something when I’m at home, so baking allows me to switch off without feeling like I need to be doing something else. It was the perfect Sunday afternoon activity, and my partner was stoked when I handed him some freshly baked banana bread while he was on the computer. I think he was almost more excited than me that I can get into the baking, because it benefits him above everyone else!
I’ll preface this banana bread recipe by saying you definitely don’t need to have a KitchenAid or electric mixer to complete this recipe. You could definitely do this by hand with a wooden spoon and get the same results. I just used my KitchenAid because it is such a novelty that I have it and get to use it, so I’ve been using it for pretty much everything and anything I can! I actually will be surprised if the novelty ever wears off, I’m just that excited about having it in my life!
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 3 ripe medium sized bananas
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup melted butter
-
Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Line a loaf tin with baking paper and set aside.
-
In the bowl of your mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, pull apart the bananas into rough pieces once peeled, and throw into the bowl. Add brown sugar and mix until incorporated. Add the eggs, one at a time and mix to combine. Add the vanilla extract, maple syrup and melted butter to the mixture, and stir to combine. Note: you can just mix this up with a wooden spoon if you don't have a stand mixer.
-
Add flour, baking soda and salt and mix until just combined. Do not over mix.
-
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan, using a spatula to ensure the mixture is spread evenly. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, until the centre comes out clean when you insert a toothpick.
-
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes in pan, then carefully take banana bread out and rest until completely cooled.
-
Cut even slices of the banana bread and serve slightly warmed. This is best enjoyed on it's own, but you can add honey for an added kick of sweetness!
As I said, this recipe is actually really easy to make. Simply dump all the ingredients into one bowl one by one, chuck in the oven and you have some delicious banana bread. Although you have to cook it for a while, it’s totally worth it for the results at the end! This banana bread was just the right amount of sweetness, and I think the addition of maple syrup rather than extra sugar really allows the natural sweetness in the banana to shine through, with an added kick! I was actually surprised by how subtle the maple syrup flavour was in the banana bread, it really didn’t over power anything! But if I was to make any banana bread appropriate for a breakfast treat, this would be what I put in it! It reminded me a little of banana pancakes, which is always a good thing!
This banana bread held its shape really well when cut and I didn’t find it to be crumbly at all, unlike some other breads that I’ve cooked. I had a piece heated up in the microwave and smothered in honey for breakfast, which was the perfect pick me up and felt like having toast, but more delicious! It’s also perfect to take as a snack for work as it is quite firm as far as banana bread goes. The only thing I would say is to eat it in the first couple of days, as it is a little drier than other banana breads I’ve cooked. But don’t worry too much about that, I felt it had a really good balance and wasn’t too dry at all!
You could easily add whatever you felt like adding to this recipe. I think it would be delicious with some berries through it, or if you’re feeling a little naughty, try adding some chocolate chips!
Honestly, you can’t go wrong with such a delicious and easy recipe for banana bread. Being able to make it using one bowl is always a good thing, and even better when you can mix it using a wooden spoon! It’s quite quick to prepare overall, and once it’s in the oven you can set and forget until the banana bread is ready! What a perfect Sunday baking activity.
What’s your go to for banana bread? Do you have any tips and tricks?
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
