The first time I made this it turned out too wet — I’d set the oven too low and hadn’t skewered the centre when checking it.
Good time to mention: always add flour last, and fold it in. The longer you beat flour, the more gluten develops and the tougher the crumb (this is why you knead bread). It’s also why people often reach for cake flour, which has a lower gluten content. For the most part, ordinary flour is fine as long as you don’t over-mix the batter.
Ingredients
250g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
115g margarine or butter
125g dark brown sugar
2 large free-range eggs (room temperature)
80g plain yoghurt (vegan soy yoghurt works fine)
345g mashed ripe bananas (4–5 medium, 3–4 large)
1 tsp vanilla
100g walnuts, chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 175°C for top-bottom heating, or 165°C fan. Prepare the rack in the lower third of the oven.
Grease and line a loaf pan.
Prep the dry ingredients: in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, bicarb, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
Beat the margarine or butter and brown sugar together until smooth and creamy, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well. Beat in the yoghurt, mashed bananas and vanilla.
Fold in the dry ingredients. When the flour is almost mixed in, fold in the walnuts. Do your best not to overmix.
Pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 60–65 minutes. If the top starts getting too brown, cover it with foil. When the loaf is looking ready, test it with a skewer in the middle — it should come out clean or with a few crumbs.
Remove from the oven and cool in the tin on a wire rack for around an hour before removing and cooling directly on the rack.
Cover and store at room temperature for a few days, or in the fridge for up to a week.
