{"id":4160,"date":"2017-01-16T16:20:18","date_gmt":"2017-01-16T16:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yousaytomatocooking.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=4160"},"modified":"2022-11-20T17:32:25","modified_gmt":"2022-11-20T17:32:25","slug":"banana-bread","status":"publish","type":"recipe","link":"https:\/\/cookwithgem.com\/recipe\/banana-bread\/","title":{"rendered":"banana bread – perfect to freeze for lunchboxes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When I posted a picture of this banana bread on social media this weekend I received a bonkers amount of comments. Loads of you sent me recipes for your favourite banana bread recipes. It seems I’m not the only one who is on a quest to find The One when it comes to banana bread. I’ve spent years trying a new recipe every time the bananas in my fruit bowl start to get beyond the stage anyone will eat them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This recipe isn’t just a winner in terms of flavour, it uses minimal equipment and is easy enough for children to make with very little help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homemade banana bread is always better than shop bought<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Banana bread is one of those things that sounds really healthy. I’ve tried all sorts of lower sugar, lower fat recipes but this is so much better. And as far as I see it (and I hope you do too), a homemade cake is healthier than a supermarket gluten-free or low fat cake. Some recipes massively cut the sugar and use all sorts of things to make the cakes low fat, low sugar or gluten free, but this is more traditional, simple and delicious. And I’ve come to a stage where I’d rather have a slice of this once or twice a week than a slice of one of the uber healthy ones each day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banana bread freezes brilliantly<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Freezing banana bread acts as a good way to stop those of us with poor willpower (me) from eating a slice every time we pass the cake tin. Just wait for it to cool and slice it. Wrap the slices in parchment or foil and then freeze them. Grab one out in the morning, throw it in your bag or lunchbox and it will be defrosted by lunchtime. They can be toasted from frozen under the grill (broiler). I’ll leave it up to you up you butter it with some salty butter (I would).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few notes on ingredients and measuring<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

All the liquids in the recipe can be weighed. So you won’t need to dirty a bunch of measuring cups or jugs. And you’ll be more accurate. Just set the bowl on your digital scales and press zero before adding each ingredient to the other ingredients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I usually make this with frozen bananas that I’ve defrosted. It is rare I get 6 overripe bananas at one time to I’ll just peel the odd one as it gets too ripe and freeze it whole. Then I can just grab them out for smoothies (use from frozen) or let them defrost at room temp for an hour before making this cake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don’t bake regularly, be sure to check that your baking powder and bicarb (baking soda) are in date. If they aren’t you won’t get the required rise to your cake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where I live in Cheshire we’re surrounded by rapeseed fields so I use a local rapeseed oil. The lovely thing about rapeseed is that the plants not only produce this heart and brain friendly oil (which is lower in saturated fat than olive oil and can be used at high temperatures), but the flowers encourage bees. Rapeseed is known as canola<\/em> oil in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This cake is made in a 1 litre (2lb) loaf tin but I’ve also made it in a shallower brownie tin – just cut the cooking time by about a third if you’re making it in a shallower, wider tin. Not sure what size your tin is? Just fill a measuring jug with 1 litre water and pour it into the tin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make your banana bread<\/h3>\n\n\n\n