cinnamon swirl banana bread

a friend raved about this cinnamon swirl banana bread so, when we had a huge pile of bananas to use up i waved it in david’s direction. he’s now made it twice and i’ve yet to try it.

here’s what he had to say about it: this was a good way of using up some over-ripe bananas.  it’s sweeter than banana breads i’ve had before, not least due to the sugar-and-cinnamon filling and topping (the latter turning pleasingly crispy with baking).  but it makes for a tasty alternative, and avoids the bourbon flavours of a jack daniels recipe i once made*.  don’t cut too thick a slice unless you’re planning to share it!

*i think that was also at my banana-using-up-behest…

cinnamon swirl banana bread

for the bread:

3-4 over-ripe bananas, mashed up

100g butter, melted

225g sugar (you can use less – 175 will be fine, especially if you add fruit or chocolate chips)

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

½ a teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

pinch of salt (not needed if butter is salted)

225g plain flour

for the swirl:

75g sugar

1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon

optional:

50g dried fruit (we used the fruit leftover from my christmas vodka)

50g chopped chocolate chunks

preheat the oven to 175 °c. butter and line a loaf pan with greaseproof paper (mine was “9 x 5”)

mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together (i used wooden spoon). sprinkle baking soda and salt around on top of the banana mixture then gently stir in the flour – be careful not to over-mix. in a small dish, mix together the swirl ingredients.

add half of the batter to the loaf pan and then sprinkle a little more than half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over the batter in the pan. add the rest of the batter, and then sprinkle the leftover cinnamon-sugar on top.

bake for 50-60 minutes, but remember, if you’re using a different-sized loaf pan, be careful and keep a close eye on it.