Preparation Time:40 minutes
Cooking Time:60 minutes
Level of Difficulty:Easy

Ingredients

• 4-6 ripe bananas (you know they are ripe when they have black spots on them)
• 240g light soft brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 480g self-raising flour
• 3-4 tablespoons of ground cinnamon (use less if you’re not a lover of it)
• 5-6 drops of vanilla essence

Method

1. Put the bananas (skins off) in a bowl and mash them with a fork to a point where there are no more lumps
2. Whisk the egg
3. Pre-heat the over to 190 degrees C/gas mark 5
4. Grease the loaf tin with the butter Making the Banana Bread Put the butter and the sugar into a large bowl and mix together with a spoon until the mixture is soft and smooth, ensure there are no lumps and all of the sugar is covered with the butter.
5. Mix the eggs and the vanilla essence in with the smooth butter and sugar mixture until all ingredients are mixed through.
6. At this point when you first mix the egg starts to separate from the sugar mixture but continue to mix and they join together.
7. Sieve the flour and cinnamon into the bowl of other ingredients and mix together. Following this, add the mashed bananas to the mixture and fold in.
8. Spoon the mixture into the tin Place the loaf tin into the oven and bake for 1 hour until golden brown on top and a knife comes out clean (you may want to cover the loaf tin with tin foil after 30 mins or so if the bread is already brown enough to prevent the top from burning)
9. Remove the loaf tin from the oven and take the banana bread from the tin and allow to cool for 30 mins
10. Once cool cut up into slices and store in an airtight container. This bread can also be frozen by wrapping each slice in tin foil and freezing immediately.
11. When reheating, either allow to defrost naturally or place in the microwave for approx 15 secs