Recipe: Five Min Virtually Fat Free Banana Loaf

Banana loaf/cake/bread, whatever you want to call it, is one of my favourite things. EVER.

Mum has made one for years with chocolate chips in and it is DELICIOUS.

America is also mad for it; when I was studying in Portland last year the cafe next to my dorm room served one with walnuts and I would always pick up a piece on the way to class and that, along with a (very strong) coffee, made for the perfect breakfast on the go.

I have been developing my own recipe for a few years now and have experimented with a virtually fat free version that is equally scrumptuous and so so easy to whip up.

To make a loaf for about 12 people you will need:

• 200g plain flour
• 140g caster sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 2 eggs
• 4 bananas (better if they are already browning)
• 4 tablespoons of apple puree

Pre-heat your oven to 180C/ gas mark 4:

To start measure out the flour:

Then the sugar:

Mix the two together and add in your baking powder and bicarbonate. At this point you can also add some vanilla extract and/or cinnamon if you fancy. Mixing the ingredients together in a bowl with a wooden spoon is fine, but I was feeling lazy so opted for the blender.

 

Next you need to add the two eggs in. If you want to be really fat free you can just use egg whites, but I find using the yolks as well helps with the overall texture of the cake.

Then add four heaped tablespoons of apple puree or sauce. I made mine earlier using apples from our garden, boiled down with a bit of sugar. If you don't have time to chop and peel a ton of apples you can buy apple puree from most supermarkets.

In fact, the apple on its own with a bit of Greek yogurt makes a delicious dessert!

Your mixture should now look similar to this:

Finally, the main ingredient goes in:

Mine weren't particularly brown but it doesn't really matter. If you are mixing by hand then these need to be mashed up separately before being added to the rest of the mixture. If using a blender just cut them up and drop them in!

If you are using a blender make sure not to over blend as this will make the flour lumpy.

Finally, grease and line a baking dish.

 

 

 

Then pour your mixture in and pop it in the oven for around 40 minutes, until it is golden brown on the outside. You can do the old knife trick to check the inside is cooked.

 

 
And then you're done! Apart from the washing up of course. How easy was that? I served mine sliced with a little bit of low fat yogurt on the side, delicious and low calorie. The bananas and apple make it really moist on the inside with a crispy coating around the outside. Perfect for dessert, snack time or breakfast. You can also add nuts or sultanas for a bit of variation.

 

I actually made two loafs and iced my second one for Easter tea with a low fat banana frosting. This is equally easy to whip up: all you need is some light Philadelphia cream cheese, half a banana, some chopped walnuts and icing sugar. Mash the banana and Philadelphia together before adding the sugar to sweeten. Layer onto the sponge and sprinkle with your nuts.