The Kitchen Garden Project
By Jamie Oliver
1 hr 15 mins plus cooling
Super easy
serves 12
About the recipe
This is a super-tasty treat and a great way to use up overripe bananas – eat this with a nice, hot cup of tea and you’ll be in heaven. Banana bread is a great recipe to make with kids, and they’ll enjoy tucking into it, too!
Recipe From
Ingredients
125g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing (at room temperature)
2 large free-range eggs
4 ripe bananas
2 tablespoons runny honey
2 tablespoons unsweetened apple juice
250g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
1 big pinch of ground cinnamon
optional: 50g pecans
Top Tip
Freeze overripe bananas and when you have enough, they will defrost in an hour or so, ready to bake into a cake!
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
- Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 1-litre loaf tin with a little butter – I use a folded-up piece of kitchen paper to do this.
- In a large bowl, use a wooden spoon to beat the soft butter until creamy.
- Crack in the eggs and beat them with the butter. It might look a little lumpy but don’t worry, it will come back together later.
- Peel 3 of the bananas, then mash and smush them into the mix with a fork so you’ve got a mixture of smooth and chunky.
- Stir in the honey and the apple juice, then use a spatula to fold in the flour and cinnamon, taking care not to over mix.
- If using, chop the pecans on a chopping board using the cross-chop method (or you could bash them with a rolling pin), then fold them through the mixture.
- Spoon all the mixture into the loaf tin, then peel and slice the remaining banana and poke into the top. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. To check if it’s done, stick a cocktail stick or skewer into the middle of the loaf, remove it after 5 seconds and if it comes out clean the loaf’s cooked; if it’s slightly sticky it needs a bit longer.
- Allow the loaf to cool slightly, then carefully turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Transfer to a nice plate, cut into slices, then serve. It’s delicious spread with butter, honey, your favourite jam or even chocolate spread. Have fun!
This works best with super-ripe bananas, so use up any that you’ve got at home.
Instead of the pecans, you could try chopped peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, dried fruit or chocolate, or a sprinkling of chocolate chips – reduce food waste by using up what you have in the cupboard.
Jamie wholeheartedly believes that cooking is up there as one of the most valuable skills you can teach a child.
Getting kids excited about food, where it comes from and how to cook it, gives them a better chance of being healthier and happier in the long run. When cooking with kids, use your common sense to determine what jobs they can help you with, depending on their age and skill level.
It’s always good to start small, with jobs such as mixing and measuring, then progress to elements of a recipe, and then go on to slightly trickier techniques over time. The more they cook, the better they’ll get.
Make sure you supervise them when using heat or sharp utensils like knives and box graters, and teach them about the importance of washing their hands before they start, and after handling raw meat and fish, as well as other basic hygiene rules. Most of all, have fun with it, and encourage them to give things a go. Note that a child’s portion size will differ depending on their age, gender and physical activity levels.
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