Famous: The craze that is banana bread

I'm really not sure if I was living under a rock or just being ignorant, because how in the world did I just get introduced to banana cake in 2021.

Many people might say I'm late to this party, but it's never late to discover something.

Last year, or rather ever since the country was under lockdown, we all had to adjust to the new way of life. 

For some of us who had taken a break from baking or making those really delicious meals were left with no option but to revive our skills and hobbies and put them to practice.

As I had confessed earlier, I'm new to the whole banana bread wave that has caught up quite fast.

So I had to learn how to make it myself and with the help of Muthoni's Kitchen, I can say I'm almost there.

It is advised that the best bananas to use for the bread are those that are over-ripe.

With the help of Muthoni's gifted hands, we will share with you a moist and delicious banana bread recipe.

But first, let's wash our hands and get right into it.

Prep time

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 4 medium sized bananas
• 2 cups oats
• 3/4 cup maziwa mala/lala 
• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon chocolate chips 

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 175 °Celsius
• Toast two cups of oats on a pan for about 5 minutes. Don't burn them.
• Let the toasted oats cool then grind into flour using a food processor (a normal blender just works fine). The consistency of the oat floor isn't as fine as normal baking flour but that's the beauty of this recipe, it gives the bread some texture.
• Whisk eggs in a bowl, add the maziwa mala - I used Tuzo, the melted unsalted butter, honey, vanilla extract and maple syrup.
• Roughly mash the bananas and add to the mixture. I love biting into small banana chunks when the bread is finally cooked.
• In a different bowl, mix in your oat flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda.
• Then fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, please avoid over-mixing.
• Grease a baking tin with some oil or butter. Then spoon batter into baking tin and gently tap it on the kitchen counter to even out the batter. (I used parchment paper instead of pouring my batter directly into the pan). I also sprinkled some chocolate chips on top that were such a nice addition when you bite into the bred.
• We are at the finishing point now. Bake at 175 °Celsius for 45 minutes. You know the bread is ready when a toothpick, skewer goes through the center and it doesn't come off with wet batter.
• Remove from the oven and wait for it to cool a bit before slicing and enjoying with your favorite cardamom tea, coffee or masala tea.

You can also surprise your taste buds by pairing the banana bread with ice cream or drizzling honey or custard on the bread.

Edited by CM