Britain went bonkers for banana bread when lockdown began, and it’s still an immensely popular go-to baking project that everyone can give a go.

So why is this? Counsellor, Natasha Crowe,  says, “It’s wholesome, nourishing and good for the soul; and right now that’s just what people need.” Here at Rest Less, we are big banana bread fans, so we can’t say we disagree.

If you’ve got a spare hour and a couple of ripe bananas, then why not give it a go? We’ve provided our own recipe below. But you can get as creative with it as you like, depending on what you have in your cupboards!

Banana Bread Recipe

Prep: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves: 8-10 people

Ingredients

  • 140g soft butter
  • 140g light soft brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 140g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
  • 85g chopped walnuts

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees/Gas mark 4.
  2. Grease a 2lb loaf tin with butter and line with baking paper.
  3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar then slowly add 2 beaten large eggs.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking powder.
  5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time, folding it in as you go.
  6. Mash the bananas and add to the bowl, mixing well and making sure there are no lumps.
  7. Mix in the walnuts.
  8. Once the mixture is a thick yet runny consistency, pour it into the loaf tin and bake for 30 minutes – or until the skewer comes out clean.
  9. Allow to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes. You can then transfer the loaf to a wire rack to continue cooling. Tip – if you don’t have a wire rack, then you can always take a wire shelf out of your oven and use that instead (but make sure it’s cool first).

Additional ingredients that you could consider using (you can add these in at the same stage as we add the walnuts in this recipe):

Sultanas, raisins, flaked almonds, chocolate chips or chunks, desiccated coconut, banana chips.

Banana bread

Do you enjoy getting creative in the kitchen? We are proud to have a hugely talented community on Rest Less, which is why we’re so excited to open up a section of the site dedicated to showcasing delicious food and drink recipes from our members. If you have a recipe that you’d like to share with the Rest Less community – you can do so here.