Banana Bread, Pt. 2

Hi guys!


Weekend is here and I wanted to bake something again. As I told you last week, I love the Donna Hay magazine app so I decided to try her banana bread. I wanted to stick with a classic version, although she gives various ideas for additions like raspberries, dates, chocolate or peanut butter. The recipe is very easy to make and the result is just amazing.


Here's how mine turned out:

The recipe:

125g (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

175g (1 cup) brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

225g (1 3/4 cup) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

2 cups (ca. 6 or 7) bananas, mashed
115g (1/3 cup) golden syrup
100g chopped nuts (by choice)


1) Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F). Combine the butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl and beat for 8-10 minutes. It's easiest to use a hand blender or kitchen machine. 


2) Gradually add the eggs and beat well.


3) Add the mashed banana, cinnamon and soda and sift in the flour and baking powder. Stir to combine. Add the golden syrup and combine. Fold in the chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans work great), if using them. Put it into a greased and floured loaf tin (11x26cm; ca. 4x10inch).


4) Bake for 60-65 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in the tin for 20 minutes, turn on a cooling rack.


It took about 25 minutes to prepare the dough. My banana bread took quite a bit longer to bake until completely cooked. I left it in the oven for 70 or 75 minutes. Golden syrup it a typically british and australian ingredient to use. The syrup is a form of inverted sugar syrup that's made in the process of refining sugar cane into sugar. It can be hard to get, but it's worth the search. I found the original british Lyle's golden syrup at a delicatessen store in the city centre. If you're in Germany and you can't find any, you can substitute Grafschafter Zuckerrübensirup. It's a little different in taste, but as close as you can get.


I like this banana bread even better than the version by Cynthia Barcomi which has been my favorite until now. I am definitely going to bake it again and try the fancier versions of it.

Have fun trying and have a great weekend!