Classic Banana Bread

It's sweet, it's soft and it's utterly delicious! I can give you a million reasons why you need to prepare this Banana bread for the holidays, but I know you want to get baking and don't have all day to chat. So let's get straight into it!

We all have a foolproof banana bread recipe from our Grandmother's kitchen. Unfortunately banana bread can sometimes be very high in calories due to the sugar and butter.

There are a couple of ways to lighten up (calorie wise!) your traditional Banana Bread Recipe:

- Use overripe bananas. They add more moisture and sweetness so that you can cut back with 25% of your sugar and moisture in the recipe.

- Downsize the portion size to mini-muffin pans .

- Make a cholesterol free version by using canola oil instead of butter (Replace the 125g butter with 130 ml canola oil)

- Add 1 tablespoon of chopped nuts for extra texture and healthy fats.

Ingredients

125g Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature

500ml Self raising Flour

2 Eggs

125ml Sugar

5 ml Vanilla Essence

4 Bananas (The riper the better!)

Pinch of salt

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C and grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

2. Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy.

3. Mash the bananas in a separate bowl.

4. Add the bananas and all the other ingredients to the butter and sugar. Mix everything well.

5. Bake for about 55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Note that banana bread freezes grate! Steps on how to freeze:

* Cool down the bread completely.

* Cover with 2 layers plastic wrap or aluminium foil and put a date on it

* Store in the freezer for 3 months.

You can enjoy this sweet treat with coffee/tea as a quick snack or toasted with a slice of bacon for breakfast!