Grandma knows best

Fancy a good, old fashioned recipe for Banana Bread that's easy peasy to do? Good, because thats what I have right here! 

This is a handwritten copy of the recipe by my Gramma, she has Alzheimers but she made sure to write this down for me in case she forgot it, bless her!

Easy Right? The only thing to mention is that where she wrote baking soda, (we think) she meant bicarbonate of soda.

Preperation is key, Grease and line your loaf tin.  If you don't have a loaf tin, you could use a wee muffin tin instead.  

Switch your oven on to preheat, to about 180 degrees, a bit less if it's a fan oven.

Mush up some ripe bananas, they don't have to be super mushed though. Then add your sugar and the egg.  You can crack the egg in a different cup first if you are worried about shell bits.

Heat up your butter/marj.  It doesn't have to be in a pan, its probably easier doing it in the microwave - I just don't have one, I know, it's the year 2013 and I don't have a microwave, I do however, have quite a small kitchen! 

Mix the butter with the dry ingredients, so your flour, bicarb. of soda etc.  Do not mix the warm butter with the eggy mixture as the heat from the butter might scramble your eggs!

Once all the dry ingredients and the butter are mixed together, you can then add your eggy banana mixture.  You just need to fold it in gently and make sure you get right down to the bottom of the bowl as flour loves to lurk there unmixed.

You should end up with a thick, lumpy batter - I'm selling it right?!

At this point, if you want to add any extras like chocolate chips, caramel pieces or crushed walnuts, just pop them in the mix and give it a wee stir.

Pop the batter into your pre-lined and pre-greased tin of choice.

I usually leave it a few minutes to settle into an even distribution.  It's at this point, I usually just pop some smashed up walnuts on top, just to make it look a bit fancy! you can also sprinkle some brown sugar over the top which gives it a lovely, sweet and sticky top.

Pop it in the oven for about 45-50 minutes, again depending on your oven. Keep an eye on it and when the top starts to go a nice golden brown, you can check if it is ready by inserting a skewer or knife into the middle.  If the inserted object comes out clean, it's done.  if your skewer/knife is a bit messy, it means that the batter isn't cooked and needs a bit longer.

once it's cooked, turn out onto a wire rack to cool for five minutes or so, or however long it takes the kettle to boil.  

Enjoy with a cup of tea, or some syrup, or some ice cream, or some... you get the idea!

Also, this is a bit of a favourite with parent and grandparent types too!

Hope you give this a try and find it easy enough!

Do you have any family tested recipes? 

Hugs,

Jodi