I was never the biggest fan of banana bread, or bananas for that matter, until I found this recipe. I’ve made a few changes to it over the years, but now I think it is perfect!

It is fair to say that I have a few hang-ups regarding bananas, as I love artificial banana flavoured things (Beacon’s Fruit Salad sweets come to mind) but I don’t love bananas themselves and the idea of a warm banana freaks me out! They’re okay when eaten slightly green, but after that they just become a slimy mess with an overpowering taste. So I made this recipe with two ripe bananas, not overripe, and the end result has just a hint of banana. Perfect for those of us who believes that bananas only has a small window of time during which they are edible.

This is definitely a recipe to save for the next time you miss the three seconds that bananas are perfect to eat!

Ingredients:

• 200g  flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbs cinnamon
• 100g milk or dark chocolate slab, chopped
• 100g salted butter, room temp (I usually pop it in the microwave for a few secs)
• 120g  sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• 2 mashed bananas
• 80 ml milk

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180C and prepare a baking dish or loaf tin if you have one.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and chocolate in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugar.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla essence to the butter mixture and beat until combined.
5. Mash the bananas until it is fairly smooth. I find a fork usually does the job.
6. Add half the egg mixture and the milk to the mixture and beat until combined.
7. Gently fold in the other half of the egg mixture and the bananas.
8. Bake in the oven for roughly 45 to 50 minutes, or until golden on top and a skewer comes out clean.
9. Best enjoyed hot!