Infused date & banana loaf on a damp autumn morning ...

 I think we all have times when we look at the fruit bowl & think; how did the bananas go soft so quickly? 

Today was such a morning & as I picked up the last 3 bananas, I thought - I have everything in so waste not & turn them in to a banana loaf. This is a recipe I bake regularly with variations including with cranberries

My store cupboards usually contain everything needed for these impromptu baking times, as well as some extras.  Everyone likes a homemade treat so I took out some dates, desiccated coconut & even a shake of chocolate bits that usually end up in cookies. 

This is my tried & trusty recipe that I often double to make a loaf & some muffins, today just a loaf.  I used a paper lined loaf tin. 

Infused date & banana loaf

The dates felt a bit underwhelming so I cut up about 100g & put them to soak in a warm Earl Grey / Rooibos (Red Bush) tea mixture to just cover them & plump them up again while I made up the rest of the mixture.

Preheat the oven to 175C (for a fan oven)

Ingredients

130g butter 

150g dark brown sugar

2 medium eggs

3 large ripe bananas, mashed

240g self raising flour & 1 tablespoon baking powder 

1 tsp of any spices you like - mixed spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger etc 

1 tsp vanilla extract. 

Line a loaf tin with lining paper or grease & flour a loaf tin. 

Cream the butter & sugar until pale  & fluffy.

Add the eggs to the mixture, along with a bit of the flour to stop the mixture curdling. 

Add the mashed bananas & the drained chopped dates & mix well. Sift in the flour, baking powder, spices, vanilla extract & mix in well. 

Pour in to the loaf tin or lined, deep muffin tins & bake in the middle of the oven for about 50-60 minutes or until a knife comes out clean from testing. 

Cool on a cake rack & enjoy with a hot cuppa. It  can be eaten as is or lightly buttered. 

The house smelt absolutely wonderful with the spices & a hint of the tea infusion (you can naturally skip this step if you don’t like infused fruit) 

Do let me know if you make it or what variations you prefer.

Thank you for stopping by, liking, sharing or commenting. 

Dee 👩‍🍳🍪🍞🍌