YUMMY (AND HEALTHY-ISH) BANANA BREAD RECIPE

If you have been following me for a while, you will know that I am definitely not a baker - I have attempted to bake many things in the past, and I have failed at pretty much all of them! That being said, one of my resolutions for February was to 'try new things' so I dusted off my baking shelf and set to work on finding something that was pretty much impossible to fuck up. I chose Banana Bread!

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I originally found this recipe on Cookie & Kate, but I tweaked it a bit due to lack of correct ingredients, and my unwilling'ness to go to the supermarket and buy the correct ones. As you can see, it was already going to be a hit from the outset, haha (I kid) 

The main ingredient that I wasn't sure about was the flour. I wanted to make this Banana Bread slightly healthy as I have been trying to find healthy alternatives in order to lose a few pounds (or stone), and the recipe I was following called for wholewheat flour. I couldn't find whole wheat flour anywhere... but I did find a whole wheat bread flour, which I assumed would be perfectly fine as I was making Banana BREAD! Other than that, everything was okay - I added way more cinnamon/vanilla/maple syrup than I was supposed to, chopped up a whole bunch of chocolate to use in it too, and made some icing to drizzle on top. 

When the recipe told me to leave it in the oven for an hour, I will admit that I panicked. Every other cake type thing I have made has been around fifteen minutes max - so I kept checking back on it every ten minutes or so. Needless to say, it was fine. In fact, I ended up leaving it in the oven for an extra five minutes. 

THE VERDICT?

I didn't ruin it! It was pretty tasty, not burnt, or undercooked, and the bananas weren't too obnoxious either! Overall, for my first attempted, I am pretty impressed. I am also surprised that I didn't completely fuck it up! If this is the start of my new baking adventures, I am eager to see where it leads me. 

Have any other recipes I should try? Link me below. 

Also see below for my recipe/tutorial for how I made my Banana Bread!

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What you need

• ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil 
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 2 ½ medium or 2 large bananas (mashed)
• ¼ cup milk 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of Nutmeg
• 1 ¾ cups whole wheat  bread flour 
• 1/2 cup chopped chocolate pieces

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Method 

1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, and butter the tin you plan on baking your cake in.

2. In a large bowl, mix the oil and maple syrup together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then whisk in the mashed bananas and milk.

3. Add the baking soda, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg before whisking to combine. Lastly, we want to gently stir in the flour (don't be too vigorous or you'll end up like me and have more of it on the floor than in the bowl, aha!) 

5. This is where you can fold in the chocolate, or if you're feeling snazzy, you want to be healthy, you can use raisins or nuts!

6. Don't panic and think why doesn't this look like bread dough... it's supposed to look that way!

7. Pour the batter into your tin, sprinkle with a little more cinnamon, and Bobs your uncle! Place it in the middle of the oven for 60-65 minutes - checking it every 15 minutes

8. Leave it to cool for about 15 minutes before you take it out of the tin, and transfer it to a wire rack for another 10 minutes. 

9. Mix a teaspoon of water with a scoop of icing sugar, stir until the desired consistency - drizzle over the top of the Banana Bread

10. Eat it all, regret nothing.