Banana Bread
Serves: 3 to 4
A moist, tender classic Banana Bread with a golden crust and rich banana flavour. Recipe with step-by-step photos.
Ingredients
- 200 g (1 ⅓ cup) plain flour, (all-purpose flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 125 g (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, softened
- 200 g (1 cup) caster sugar, (superfine sugar)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 3 large bananas, very ripe
- 1 large banana, firm but ripe
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F) (without fan).
- Line a loaf pan with a 1 litre (4 cup) capacity with baking paper. If you are serving directly from a ceramic loaf pan as pictured, generously grease the pan with butter instead.
- Measure the flour, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon into a bowl.
- Cream the butter and sugar together using a stand mixer or electric beaters for about 5 minutes on medium speed, until the mixture is pale yellow and fluffy. This step is important to give some height to the cake, as there is no baking powder in this recipe.
- Add the vanilla extract.
- Add one egg, followed by a tablespoon of the flour mixture. Beat until everything is incorporated.
- Add the second egg.
- Slowly beat in the rest of the flour mixture.
- Mash the ripe bananas. I like to have small chunks of banana in my banana bread, so I don't mash too finely. But if you prefer a smooth banana, then mash the bananas really well.
- Add the mashed bananas to the batter.
- Mix everything together so that the mashed bananas are well incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and smooth it out with a spatula.
- Slice the firm banana in half lengthways and arrange it on top of the batter. There is no need to push it into the batter.
- Bake for about 35 to 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. The baking time will depend on the size and shape of your loaf pan - some are wider or taller than others.
- Remove the cake pan to a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes, before carefully unmoulding the cake and letting it cool completely on the wire rack. If you are serving directly from a ceramic loaf pan, you can start serving after 10 minutes.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Kitchen Notes
- FREEZER TIPS
Frozen bananas work well in this recipe. I like to freeze ripe bananas by breaking them into small pieces and placing them into a ziplock freezer bag. Once defrosted, discard any excess water. - OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer's handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly. - CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.