Banana bread

I haven't posted for a while as I've had a bit of a crisis thanks to my adorable little monster Bruce the Whippet. I must have left the room for all of 5 minutes and when I came back I find that he has almost chewed right through my laptop power cable! ...luckily it was not plugged in though. So that was completely useless after that leaving me with a mere 30% battery! The replacement cable arrived today but I have been totally lost without my computer all week. I actually made this banana bread at the weekend, with the intention of posting it on Monday but due to unforseen dog induced circumstances here it is now.

I absolutely love banana bread and it is by far the thing that I make the most in our house. A staple. We eat it by itself or with jam or chocolate spread or toasted with butter (how the Ozzies eat it I discovered when I took a trip the other year), for breakfast or a snack. Never underappreciated. It is so easy to make and is a proper comfort food.

Ingredients
(makes 1 loaf)

250g self raising flour
150g golden caster sugar
100g butter melted and cooled
2 eggs, beaten

3 ripe bananas (I always say the trick is if your fingers go through the skin they have been left too long, you want them to be speckled brown and yellow)

100g chopped walnuts
1 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat your oven to 180°C (or 350°F/gas 4) and line a 900g loaf tin with greaseproof paper and butter (you can buy these ready sized so I just get those for ease - you don't even need to grease it with butter).

Melt the butter in a sauce pan then leave to cool for a few minutes.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour and sugar then add the melted and cooled butter, the beaten eggs and the vanilla extract.

Roughly mash the bananas with a fork, not too much though there should be lumpy bits and mix in with the rest of the mixture. Add the chopped walnuts and stir until combined.

Transfer to the prepared tin and spread out evenly then bake for 50 minutes (I check after 45 and if a skewer comes out clean it is ready, if not return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes).

Cool in the tin for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. If you try to cut it before it is cool it may just all crumble. I always think banana bread gets better each day as the flavour gets more banana-ey and the cake gets moister. Lovely.