There are many ‘secrets’ out there for the perfect banana bread, but we believe in the most simple; super ripe bananas.  You want to leave them until the skin is dark yellow, covered in brown spots and soft when peeled.

This will give you the sweetest most flavorful banana bread which there just isn’t a substitute for.   Luckily banana’s freeze (peeled) very well so you can keep a stash in your freezer ready for when you fancy whipping up this sweet treat.

A note on substitutions – we’ve included more substitutions that usual for this recipe so you can use up what is in your cupboards.

Ingredients:

• 285g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp salt – omit if using salted butter
• 110g butter + extra for greasing the dish –  OR coconut oil OR 80ml flavour free vegetable oil OR olive oil
• 225g light brown sugar –  OR caster sugar (optional – try adding 1 tsp treacle to white caster sugar for a more caramelly flavour) OR a mix of the two 
• 2 medium eggs
• 4 ripe bananas – mashed
• 85ml buttermilk – OR 4 tbsp yoghurt mixed with 25ml milk – or 80ml milk + 1tsp white vinegar/lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract – optional

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark  and grease and line your loaf tin (roughly 20cm x 12.5cm). Sift the flour with soda and salt into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (if using oil mix until well combined).
2. Add the eggs, mashed bananas, buttermilk and vanilla into the butter/sugar mixture and mix well. Gently fold in the flour mixture.
3. and pour your cake mixture in. Bake in the middle of the oven for 75 minutes until well risen and golden brown, and if you poke it with a knife or skewer it comes out clean. Avoid overbaking it as that will lose the moisture!  Leave to rest 30 minutes before removing from the tin.

And there you have it! The  BEST banana bread EVER. If you can muster the necesssary self-control you can slice it up once it cools and pop it into the freezer. That way, the next time you’re in the mood for the worlds most delicious banana bread all you need to do is pop a slice in the toaster to heat it up.

Do you have any secrets or tips for making the world’s best banana bread? Or did you try out our recipe? Let us know if the comments below.