How on earth we are already in March I don’t know?! I began the year with a triumphant new years ambition to develop my humble blog, challenge my culinary skills and pepper it with new recipes. However due to a number of unexpected hurdles over the past months this hasn’t been actioned as much as I’d like! With a very busy and eventful week at work under my belt and a browning bowl of bananas sitting provocatively on the kitchen table I thought of nothing better than to create the comforting, warming and homely delights of a banana bread loaf to scoff with tea. Studded with crunchy pecans and soft sharp blueberries it is delicious eaten alone or toasted with ice cream. I love the use of muscovado sugar in this recipe which was a deviation from my usual (and reliable) recipe using a more refined caster sugar. But its treacle like flavour and depth adds a decadent dimension to this classic.
Makes 1 loaf or 4 mini loaves
- 250g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 125g softened butter
- 235g muscovado sugar
- 400g ripe bananas (about 4 )
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 100g blueberries
- 50g chopped pecans
- 1-2 tbsp demerara sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line 1 x 400g loaf tin or 4 small loaf tins
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and muscovado sugar until creamy and fluffy.
- Gradually beat in the eggs, bit by bit.
- Mash the bananas with a fork in another bowl and add the vanilla extract. Combine thoroughly with the butter and sugar mixture.
- Sieve the flour and baking powder over the mixture and fold in to combine.
- Gently fold in the blueberries and pecans until evenly distributed
- Spoon the mixture into the lined tins.
- Scatter the top with a generous dusting of ground cinnamon and then top with the crunchy demerara sugar to create a nice crust.
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes for the small tins and around 50 minutes for a large loaf tin. Check after 30 minutes regardless and remove from the oven when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in their tins and then remove.
- Slice and serve layered with cinnamon mascarpone, yoghurt or warm with ice cream.