My week has been stressful and this oaty banana loaf is one of the most comforting foods to eat. Fresh from the oven with a little butter or lightly toasted with jam, this is a recipe that is adored by everyone. I, like many people, store the odd banana or two in my freezer for banana loaves to be whipped whenever needed.
Bananas from the freezer taste sweeter than overripe ones in the fruit bowl. The water in a banana expands when frozen. When defrosted, the amylase (or sugars) have also expanded in the banana’s liquid. Bananas don’t have a lot of excess liquid, thus these sugars stay in the pulp. This process makes them taste sweeter and perfect for baking. The oats in this loaf are not prominent in flavour, but they add a slight crumble to the texture.
In our home, we buy the Fairtrade All Good bananas. The price difference is minimal to our budget and yet the farmers at the other end earn a proper wage. They are easily identifiable by their yellow tape around each bunch. You can read more about All Good and their stockists on their website here.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/2 cup rolled oats, whizzed in a food processor until moderately fine
- 2 cups flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 banana
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and then grease and line your loaf tin with baking paper. In a big bowl, whisk the milk, sugar and eggs together. Fold through the mashed bananas, oats, flour, baking power and cinnamon. Pour into prepared tin. Cut the final banana into strips lengthways and rest them on top of the loaf mixture.
Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, or until lightly golden and brown on top. Test by inserting a skewer into centre, if it comes out clean the loaf is ready. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, and then turn out on a wire rack.
Serve immediately with a little organic butter, or store in an airtight container once completely cool.
