Recipes

Ingredients

• 10 slices of pan bread (white or brown, but with crusts removed)
• 275ml (10fl oz) milk
• 60g (2 oz) butter, melted,
• 75g (2 oz) soft brown sugar
• 2 level teaspoons mixed spice
• 1 egg, beaten
• 175g (6 oz) mixed dried fruit - raisins, sultanas, currants, mixed peel
• grated rind of half an orange
• Freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

Preparation method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / gas mark 4.
2. Break up the bread into pieces, place in a bowl and pour the milk over. Stir together then let sit for 30 minutes to absorb.
3. Lightly grease a 1.5 litre oven-proof baking dish.
4. Beat melted butter, sugar, mixed spice and egg together until smooth. Add in soaked bread and milk. Stir in dried fruit and orange rind. Pour into prepared dish and sprinkle with nutmeg.
5. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Ingredientsb

• 85g wheat bran
• 250ml buttermilk
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 100g dark brown soft sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 125g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 80g sultanas

Preparation method

1. Preheat oven to 190 C / Gas mark 5. Grease a muffin tin or line with paper muffin cases.
2. Mix together wheat bran and buttermilk; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Beat together oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and add to buttermilk mixture. Sift together flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into buttermilk mixture, until just blended. Fold in sultanas and spoon batter into prepared muffin tin.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!

It is such a treat to go into Starbucks and enjoy a coffee and something sweet. It is one of my life’s little pleasures. Freshly baked banana bread is hard to beat. Banana walnut bread isn’t difficult to make, in fact you can make banana walnut bread that will taste just like Starbucks. I recommend using bread flour if you have it on hand, as it gives the bread a more dense feel. Why not try making some this banana walnut bread, and bring it to your co-workers. Unlike in the store, you can enjoy this banana walnut bread while it is still warm out of the oven.

1 3/4 C. flour (bread flour is best)

2/3 c. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 C. mashed ripe (this is usually 2 or 3 bananas)

1/3 C. margarine

2 Tbsp. milk

2 eggs

1 cup chopped walnuts (divided into 2 (1/2 C.) portions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium size bowl combine all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt), stir together to combine. In another medium size bowl combine margarine and sugar, with a mixer cream the margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in mashed bananas and eggs, and mix well. Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mix until the flour is just mixed in, then add in the remaining flour and 1/2 cup walnuts, blend together until everything is mixed together. Do not overstir.

Pour batter into a greased 8×4 inch loaf pan. Then top the batter with the remaining chopped walnuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.

While Starbucks does not make their banana bread with butter, I think this comes out more rich this way. I also like to add in a sprinkle or two of cinnamon and sugar into this, again, not in their recipe, it does add that little something extra.