We all love Mary Berry.
Either you’re virtually “praise hands-ing” me in affirmation or you just don’t know who Mary Berry is.
If you’re in the latter group, then welcome to the sweet, soothing and wonderful world of The Great British Baking Show. It’s a PBS wonder where British amateur bakers compete to be the best baker in the UK. And they’re judged by bread master Paul Hollywood and British baking legend Mary Berry.
For Christmas, my husband got me Mary Berry’s Baking Bible, and I’m just starting to make my way through it. It’s full of classics and British recipes I’ve never made or tried. I will say that her recipes are not super specific on the direction side, but I can’t fault her when her Banana Loaf is this good.
I’ve literally made this banana bread-cousin at least 5 times so far this year…that’s once a month, folks!
It is everything I want in a banana bread, and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to another recipe. It’s buttery and moist and tastes a bit like a bananas foster in bread form.
No nuts, no chocolate chips, no fancy flavors. You don’t need it when old bananas, sugar, flour, milk and vanilla extract are playing a symphony together! Trust me.
Banana Loaf
This banana loaf is my favorite banana bread recipe, moist, flavorful and full of buttery banana flavor.
Ingredients
- 8 tbs. (or 4 oz.) butter, softened
- 6 oz. caster sugar (instructions on how to make this in the recipe)
- 2 eggs
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 cup (8 oz.) self-raising flour (or all-purpose flour with 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/4 tsp. salt added)
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tbs. milk
Instructions
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Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a loaf tin (I like to use coconut oil), then line the sides with parchment paper.
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To make caster sugar, add sugar to a food processer and process for 10-30 seconds until finer in texture.
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Cream the butter and sugar on medium to medium-high in a stand mixer for a few minutes, until light and combined. Add in eggs, bananas, self-raising flour or flour with baking powder and salt, additional baking powder and milk. Beat mixture on medium to medium-high speed for 2 minutes, until well blended.
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Spoon mixture into lined tin and level the surface. Bake for about 1 hour, until risen slightly and golden brown (or a cake tester comes out clean).
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Let cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or wrap in tin foil and store at room temperature to eat on for up to a week.
