I don’t know how we can possibly continue to pretend that banana bread is a health food when it is clearly CAKE. And this is the purest expression of that. My other banana bread recipe has walnuts and cranberries so it pretends to be health-full. This one has chocolate chips and marzipan… No excuses
- 180g plain flour
- 2 heaped tbsp ground almonds
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2 heaped tbsp ground flax seed (see – health!)
- ½ tsp salt
- 120 g dark chocolate chips – darkest possible to offset the sweetness of everything else
- 120 g marzipan, cut into small cubes (easiest if it’s been in the fridge to harden a bit)
- 50 g sunflower seeds
- 75g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 175g caster sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2-3 brown bananas, mashed
- ½ tsp almond extract
- Flaked almonds, to sprinkle thickly over the top
- Preheat oven to 160C fan (180C)
- Line a loaf tin. Try scrunching up the baking paper and then smoothly it out again, it will be much easier to use
- Put the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, bicarb, ground flax seed and salt into a bowl
- Stir in the choc chips, marzipan and sunflower seeds
- In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy
- Add one egg at a time and beat well as you go
- Stir in the mashed banana and almond extract (don’t beat or it will look unappetisingly split – although it doesn’t affect the final result)
- Tip in the flour mixture and stir together until just combined
- Coax into the loaf tin, make sure it gets into all the corners
- Smooth the top and sprinkle over flaked almonds
- Bake for 1 hour then use a skewer to check if its done – if you poke it into the middle of the loaf, it should come out clean. If it’s not, give it a further 15 mins or so
Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then lift out using the baking paper and cool on a rack until completely cold. Wrap with foil and leave 24 hours before you eat it.
Sophie cooks 