Raisin and Walnut Mini Banana Loaves

Makes 8 mini loaves

There’s nothing me and my mum love talking about more than food. We’ll often compare kitchen notes and recipe ideas, like this banana bread recipe right here. My mum had made this banana bread for friends and when they declared it the best banana bread ever, I knew I had to give it a try.

I wanted to bake it for my personal trainer Kathy who goes by the nickname Kathy Bananas because quite frankly she is a bit bananas and also the top banana. Anyhoo, this year, when it came to her Christmas gifts, I stuck with the banana theme, with some banana tea towels, a banana tray, a banana bag and this banana bread. Of course, I wanted something a bit different so I dusted off my mini loaf pan and set to work.

Kathy hasn’t quit sugar but she doesn’t love it nearly as much as me, so I knew she’d love these babies, because they’re relatively low in sugar and they have wholemeal flour, which has to be a win, win in the nutrition department. These are delicious served warm with some butter and a cuppa but go equally great in a lunch box too.

Best of all, they’re super versatile and you swap the sultanas and nuts in or out with all manner of dry ingredients. I really wanted to add chocolate chips but as I was gifting these to my gym guru I wanted to at least appear to be healthy. Although, appearances are not always what they seem… Just sayin’!

Now, if you don’t have a mini loaf pan, don’t worry, this recipe will make one regular loaf sized banana bread (bake for about 50-55 minutes at 180C/160C fan-forced.)

Ingredients

125g plain flour

125g wholemeal flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

115g butter, softened and chopped

115g brown sugar

400g ripe bananas (about 4 large bananas)

2 eggs

100g chopped walnuts

100g sultanas or raisins

How to – Traditional

Preheat oven to 180C/160 fan-forced. Grease and line each hole of an 8 loaf mini loaf tin.
Mash the bananas and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flours, salt, bicarb and cinnamon and set aside.
In a separate bowl cream butter and sugar and then stir in eggs and mashed banana and mix well.
Add the banana mixture to the all the dry ingredients and gently stir until just combined.
Divide mixture equally between the 8 holes.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. If the loaves are browning too quickly, simply cover the tray loosely with foil.

How to – Thermomix

Preheat oven to 180C/160 fan-forced. Grease and line each hole of an 8 loaf mini loaf tin.
Place flours, salt, bicarb and cinnamon into TM bowl and combine for 5 seconds on speed 5. Set aside.
Place butter and sugar to TM bowl and mix on speed 4 for 20 seconds, then scrape down sides.
Add eggs, banana and flour mix and mix for 30 seconds on reverse speed 6.
Add walnuts and sultanas and mix for 10 seconds on reverse speed 3, until combined.
Divide mixture equally between the 8 holes.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. If the loaves are browning too quickly, simply cover the tray loosely with foil.