Mary Berry’s banana bread

Name: Mary Berry's banana bread
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 100 g (½ cup) butter, softened; 175 g (¾ cup) caster sugar; 2 eggs; 2 bananas; 225 g (1 + ½ cup) self raising flour; 1 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp cinnamon; 100 g (½ cup) sultanas

This Mary Berry banana bread is really tasty and moist. If you’ve got over ripe bananas in your fruit bowl (like we often do) this is a great way of using them up.

Banana bread is one of my all time favourite bakes We’ve made a lot of them over the years and I have my go to recipe but once in a while I like to try a new banana loaf. Mary Berry’s banana bread is a great recipe for kids because it simply mixes everything together in one bowl. I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again but those tend to be the easiest bakes for kids and certainly mean less washing up!

This Mary Berry banana loaf is really tasty and moist. If you’ve got over ripe bananas in your fruit bowl (like we often do) it’s a great way of using them up.

For an extra twist, we’ve also turned this recipe into easy, single portion Mary Berry banana bread muffins.

How can kids help make this Mary Berry banana bread?

As this uses the ‘all in one’ method it’s a great, easy banana loaf for kids. They can help measure everything out before mixing it all togther in your mixing bowl. Because you’re mixing everything together it also doesn’t really matter the order you add everything which is one less thing to worry about.

How ripe should bananas be for banana bread?

The riper the banana the better when it comes to baking. If it’s turning brown, or already brown then it’s perfect. When bananas turn brown, they become much sweeter which is exactly what you want for banana bread.

How to ripen bananas quickly

You’re unlikely to be able to buy overripe bananas, perfect for banana loaf in the supermarket, and if you don’t have any brown bananas in your fruit bowl, you might want to make your own. Bananas ripen more quickly in a brown paper bag, so you can put a few in one, fold down the top and wait a day or two. If you have an apple, pop that in and the bananas will ripen even quicker.

If you can’t wait a few days for your bananas to ripen, try baking them in the oven before you make your banana bread. Pop them on a baking tray and baking them for 15-20 minutes at 150C / 300F. They’ll blacken and sweeten in the oven, and when you’re ready to use them, simply peel them a little and scoop out the fruit.

Can I freeze bananas for banana bread?

Yes. If you have overripe bananas but no time to bake, simply peel them and wrap them in cling film or pop them in a freezer bag. They’ll keep for a few months. When you’re ready to use them thaw them out before adding them to your recipe. You can chop the bananas up before you freeze them if you want to be able to use small portions – once you’ve chopped them freeze them on a baking tray for a few hours before putting them in a freezer bag.

Thawed bananas are a bit soft and watery, but that’s fine. It’ll make them easier for to mash to add your your banana loaf.

Can I add anything to my banana bread?

I love banana bread on it’s own, or served warm with a little bit of butter. If you like you can add a little bit of cinnamon or some sultanas.

Or once, you’ve mastered a basic banana loaf, why not try one of our delicious variations: Chocolate and banana loaf
caramel banana bread, banana and blueberry loaf, cinnamon banana bread and, chocolate chip banana bread.

How do I know when my banana bread is ready?

You can check whether your banana loaf is ready by inserting a toothpick, metal skewer or sharp knife into the middle. It should come out clean, or with just a few crumbs on it. If there is a lot of wet batter still on it when you check, pop it back in the oven for 5-10 minutes.

Why is my banana bread dense and chewy?

Banana bread is a loaf rather than a ‘bread’ so you don’t need to knead and mix the dough to develop the gluten. In fact, if you do overmix it it can lose it’s lightness and become too dense or rubbery. To avoid this, stop mixing it the batter together once it’s nice and smooth.

What else can you use overripe bananas in?

We use bananas in our baking all the time, so we’ve got lots of other recipes you can use bananas with:

Banana bread muffins
Banana oat cookies
Banana and chocolate chip slice
Nutella and banana muffins
Banoffee cupcakes
Banana traybake
Chocolate chip banana muffins
Chocolate banana bread

Or why not try one of these delicious loaves:

Ginger loaf cake
Treacle sponge
Lemon and blueberry loaf
Fruit loaf
Caramel and apple loaf
Madeira cake
Tea loaf
Raspberry and white chocolate loaf cake
Apple and blackberry cake
Orange drizzle cake
Carrot loaf cake

Useful equipment

You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make this Mary Berry banana loaf:

Digital scales
Freestanding mixer
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
2 lb loaf tin
Wire rack

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Ingredients

100g (½ cup) butter, softened
175g (¾ cup) caster sugar
2 eggs
2 bananas
225g (1 + ½ cup) self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder

How to make Mary Berry’s banana bread

Preheat you oven to 180C/160C Fan / 350F and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.

Mix everything together

Get your kids to measure everything out in a small bowl before adding it to a large mixing bowl or freestanding mixer.

We used a baking spread rather than butter, but if your butter isn’t soft, give it a quick blast in the microwave – not enough to melt it, just enough to make it easier to mix.

When your kids are cracking eggs, get them to do it in a small bowl first before adding it in, just in case they get shell in. I also tend to keep a spare empty bowl on hand so the kids can put the shell in there – it stops them just dumping it on the worktop.

Young children can easily help prepare the bananas. If you use the very ripe bananas, they should be really easy to mash before you add them to your bowl.

Once you’ve measured everything out, mix it all together using the k paddle of your freestanding mixer, a hand held mixer, or some wooden spoons.

Mix it all for a minute or two until it is well mixed into a nice, smooth batter.

Bake the banana bread

Pour your mixture into your prepared loaf tin.

Use a spatula to scrape it out of your bowl and level the surface.

Bake the banana loaf for 50 minutes – 1 hour. It’s ready when it’s risen, turned golden brown and a metal skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Remove it from the oven and leave it to cool in the tin for a few minutes before removing it from the tin, taking off the baking paper and leaving it to cool on a wire rack.

Serve and enjoy.