Beautiful Banana bread

It's been a while since my last blog post. Put it down to work, travels or other interests, my love for food and cooking has never been lost. Feels great to be sharing my creations and recipes again! This banana bread recipe is one you really should try!

There are certain aromas that just fill you with a sense of happiness, a sense of warmth and comfort. The wafting aroma of banana bread baking in the kitchen does just that. Actually there's a beautiful aroma from the moment that you add the mashed ripe bananas to the cake mixture. It's sure to test your patience too as you wait for an hour to pass whilst the bread bakes and then cools down!

Banana bread was a regular creation in my childhood home, and is popular in South Africa. In Australia it's also popular, commonly served thickly sliced and toasted with butter. I prefer a moist, soft banana bread with nuts that's good to eat on its' own. It's a fantastic treat to take on picnics or walks and can be eaten at any time of the day.

This recipe yields a beautiful, soft, moist bread that's very tasty and is sure not to last very long in any eager household. I've added walnuts to my bread beacuse I love the texture of crispy nuts in the soft bread. Walnuts also complement the taste of bananas really well.

You will need:

2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 1 cup sugar depending on how sweet you'd like your bread

60g butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 4 bananas)
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup lightly crushed walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 180° C (fan forced 160 degrees C).

Beat together the sugar and butter in a large bowl with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add mashed banana, yogurt, and vanilla extract. Beat lightly until blended.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and add this flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon until just moist. Add the crushed walnuts and stir in lightly. Spoon batter into a lighlty greased medium loaf pan. Bake at 180° C (160 degrees for convection oven) for 1 hour or until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan, then cool completely on wire rack, slice and enjoy!