Mediterranean-style Banana Bread

I accidentally ended up with a banana mountain last week (for reasons too complicated to go into here!) and, when they all started to ripen at the same time (as bananas unhelpfully do!), I decided it was the perfect excuse to get baking! ( I have since found out that bananas can be frozen wrapped in cling film once you have removed the peel.)

Cooking is the main thing keeping me sane during lock-in. It’s great to be able to spend hours in the kitchen trying out new recipes or browsing through cookery books I haven’t looked at in years. Funny how reading through old recipes, especially hand written ones, can evoke all kinds of memories not only to do with the food itself but also people, places and time. Cooking makes me feel reconnected to family and friends who are unexpectedly inaccessible, in this strange new world we all find ourselves in.

This is a Mediterranean style banana bread recipe which uses olive oil instead of butter. Olive oil is widely used in Mediterranean baking and gives cakes a very moist consistency. This recipe is inspired by a recipe from themediterraneandish.com.but I have made a few changes to suit my own palate . For example I prefer using the lighter flavoured Olive Oil instead of Extra Virgin oil in cakes. I also prefer grinding to chopping walnuts in cake or bread recipes as this makes the flavours blend better and creates a smoother texture.

Easy to make and full of healthy ingredients, it makes a perfect mid-morning or afternoon snack.

Mediterranean style Banana Bread

Prep to Plate:  Prep: 30 mins  Cooking time: 50-60 mins

Difficulty:

Difficulty level 1

Ingredients

  • 3 ripe bananas (mashed)
  • 2 eggs
  • 50g walnuts (either chopped or ground according to preference )
  • 200g plain flour
  • 180g honey
  • 2 tbspns Greek yoghurt
  • 55ml semi-skimmed milk
  • 1 tbspn sugar
  • 65 ml of Olive oil
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tspn ground cinammon
  • 1/2 tspn ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tspn ground cardamon

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 170 °C, 150 Fan, Gas Mark 3.
  2. Grease a non-stick loaf pan (size :10x5ins/ 25.5 x12.5 cms)
  3. Whisk olive oil and honey together.
  4. Add the eggs and whisk again until mixture is well combined.
  5. Next add the mashed bananas, milk, yoghurt, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla extract and baking soda. Whisk together to a smooth consistency.
  6. Stir in the flour and ground (or chopped) walnuts and whisk together until thoroughly combined.
  7. Pour mixture into greased pan and give tin a gentle shake to even out the mixture.
  8. Place in oven and bake for around 50 minutes.
  9. Check “bread” by piercing centre with a cocktail stick. If cocktail stick has wet mixture clinging to it, you need to return cake to oven and bake for several more minutes. Check again to ensure bread has finished baking (toothpick should come out dry.)
  10. Once baked, remove from oven and allow to cool in the tin for around 10 minutes.
  11. Transfer from tin and allow to cool on a wire rack for around 15 minutes.
  12. Then it will be ready for you to slice and enjoy!
www.dontburntheonions.com
A tasty and healthy way to use over-ripe bananas.

Did you know that...

  • bananas don’t actually grow on trees but on plants which can grow as much as 26 feet in height?
  • bananas are full of nutrients and have a high concentration of potassium which can help with hangovers,as well as regulating blood pressure.

© (Suzette McDaniel Don’t Burn The Onions) Unauthorized use and /or duplication of this material without express written consent from this blog’s author/and or owner is strictly prohibited

2 thoughts on “Mediterranean-style Banana Bread

Leave a Reply