This beautiful, super simple banana bread is adapted from Australian Chef Karen Martini’s cookbook New Kitchen.
A combination of super ripe bananas and lovely, creamy Greek yoghurt, this is the perfect breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacky cake (just eat it all day, everyday – I dare you to stop).
I’ve adapted the recipe slightly and used walnut meal and desiccated coconut for a toasty, extra moist result.
Prep Time – 15 mins + 30 mins baking time
Serves – 4-5
Ingredients
- 100 ml extra virgin oil (I used 50 ml neutral vegetable oil)
- 80 gms brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 egg
- 50 gms greek yogurt
- 100 gms wholemeal/plain flour
- 70 gms walnut meal
- 50 gms desiccated coconut
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp soda bicarbonate
- 2 large, extra ripe bananas (mashed)
- 1 banana and some walnuts for topping
Method
Line a loaf tin with some baking paper and pre-heat oven to 180° c.
Combine the oil and sugar together and whisk till fluffy. Add the vanilla essence and the egg, then slowly beat in the Greek yogurt till it is smooth and no lumps remain. Add mashed bananas to the mixture (you can add a little more sugar if the bananas aren’t ripe enough).
Combine all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Slowly add to wet ingredients and fold till combined. Be sure you don’t over mix the batter. You can add a little milk while folding if the batter is too dry.
Tip into your prepared loaf pan and top with a banana slices lengthways down the middle. Sprinkle with walnuts or desiccated coconut and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
Serve warm with cream, vanilla ice cream or just by itself.
My aunt once told me that you should always use the ripest bananas to make banana bread. The soft texture and concentrated sugars ensure a strong banana flavour and you end up using half the amount of sugar.
A simple trick to ripen your bananas is to lay them flat on a baking sheet (skin on) and pop them in the oven (200° c) for 10-15 minutes. The skin should turn black and slightly sticky! Mash when cooled and use as directed.
Happy Baking!
Karina