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Poppy seed banana bread

We all have, from time to time, a few bananas ripening in our fruit bowl that we end up forgetting about. If you have a sweet tooth but don’t want to overindulge, then this banana bread is for you! Think of it as a mix between cake and bread : soft and moist but not too sweet and rich, this recipe is perfect for a healthy slice after exercising (or simply to finish off a nice meal!).

Ingredients

Makes one large loaf

200g Shipton Mill traditional organic white flour
50g Shipton Mill organic 100% wholewheat flour
125g light brown sugar
75g little seeds (I use mostly poppy seeds but you can use whatever you have)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
a good pinch of salt
3 medium ripe bananas
zest and juice of a half lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons yogurt
2 eggs

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200°/fan 180°. Put all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, seeds, salt, baking powder and baking soda) into a large bowl and mix them well.

2. Take another bowl, peel then mash the bananas with a fork. Add the lemon juice and zest, the olive oil, the yogurt and the eggs and mix until they are all combined.

3. You can now pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Use a spatula to stir but be careful not to over-mix at this stage, just enough to have a smooth mixture.

4. Butter and flour a loaf tin before you pour the dough into it (if your tin is not non-stick, you can add parchment paper to make sure it won’t stick). My tin is about 23cm long, 13cm wide and 7cm deep but you can use a similar size one or adjust accordingly. Bake for about 40-45 minutes and check it’s ready by inserting a sharp knife in the loaf: it should come out dry (or mostly dry!).

5. If you want to make a simple icing on top, mix some icing sugar with a bit of lemon juice until you have a smooth paste, thick enough to coat the spoon but runny enough to pour over the cake. Once your loaf has cooled a little, remove it from the tin and place it on a cooling rack, then pour the icing on top. You can enjoy a slice on its own but I love to spread a bit of butter or jam on it! It would make a lovely breakfast or brunch addition as the banana bread isn’t too heavy.