My Mammy's Tried and Tested Perfect Banana Bread

Banana bread is a recipe that everyone has and in the same way everyone seems convinced that theirs is the best. Having tried some of these recipes I keep returning to the banana bread I enjoyed as a child and while it may not be the 'best' it's certainly mine and my whole family's favourite. It has more banana that the typical recipe which means that the banana flavour is much more intense and the loaf is super moist and rich. Also in this recipe you will find the addition of orange and lemon zest which gives a certain freshness to it. 

Also, in what appear to e a break with the norm there are no spices in this banana bread. Having messed around with different spices I found that they detract from the taste and I don't otehr with them anymore, banana bread should be simple and this one definitely is

Banana Bread

Makes 1 loaf

75g soft butter

110g caster sugar

1 large egg beaten

225g plain flour

2 tsps baking powder level

4 medium bananas peeled

Grated rind 1 orange

Grated rind 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 180.

Butter, sugar and egg in large mixing bowl

Sift in flour and baking powder

In another bowl slice and mash bananas with fork

Whish sugar, butter and flour until thoroughly combined

Add orange and lemon rind

Add mashed bananas

Mix thoroughly

Put in tin and level off top

Centre shelf 50-55 mins until loaf is golden, well risen and springs back

Wholemeal Irish Brown Bread

Ok, so my thesis is OFICIALLY DONE! I no longer have to spend hours obsessing over statistics or whether my headings look just right :D. Now onto my next essay...*head/desk* :P.
At any rate, now that it's handed in and out of my mind I can go back to baking more regularly :D So this morning I decided I'd make Buttermilk Wholemeal Bread because we had no proper brown bread in the house! The nice thing about Irish wholemeal bread is that it requires NO KNEADING!!! The result is a dense textured loaf full of fibre and homey goodness, perfect for soup and salmon and lashings of butter and jam :)

We normally buy freshly baked wholemeal bread from a little market near where we live but this week through a combination of being super busy and them leaving the market earlier than usual we missed out. So I decided I'd try my hand at it and adapt a really basic (and kind of crappy) wholemeal buttermilk bread recipe that I already had in my recipe box.

Unfortunately I had to leave before it was cool enough to eat but according to the text I just received it was a winner and my mum wants me to make more next week. the loaf came out a little on the flat side because the only loaf tin I had available was a silicone tin and whatever about their pro of being non stick, I personally think they're pretty rubbish as far as keeping the shape goes... But anyway, I'll use the metal one next time and then compare results :)

The bread has honey and buttermilk in it. I omitted the salt because I find that buttermilk can be quite salty, but feel free to put it in if you think the honey will make the bread too sweet. According to my tasters the lack of salt wasn't a problem and the honey was balanced so it really depends on your own personal tastes.

Wholemeal Irish Buttermilk Bread


(Makes 1 large loaf)


450g wholemeal flour
150g plain flour
1 egg
550mls buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp salt
2tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 220 C
Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl
Add the egg to the buttermilk and beat together
Add 3/4 of the wet ingredients to the dry and mix, adding more liquid bit by bit until it is all incorporated
Add honey and mix well
Turn the wet, sticky dough out into the loaf tin and bake for 55mins-1 hour, covering with baking paper to prevent over browning of the crust if necessary

If you have them sprinkle some jumbo oatflakes over the top before baking :)