Mary Berry's 'deliciously moist' banana bread 'doesn't even need to be buttered'
This Mary Berry banana bread recipe is quick and easy, contains only simple ingredients and is perfect for a midweek snack or breakfast
Mary Berry is the queen of baking, with recipes as simple and accessible as they are delicious.
And this banana bread is one of her simplest — it takes just one hour to bake, and all you need to do before hand is weigh and mix a handful of ingredients.
And those who have tried it love it, with reviewers on the BBC Good Food website giving it 4.5 out of five stars and those on the Happy Foodie website giving it full marks and describing it as a "quick and easy" recipe with a "delicious result". Another said it was the "best banana bread I have ever made".
Banana bread is a great midweek recipe for lots of reasons. It can be eaten as a snack or as breakfast, it has the goodness of the bananas in it so you benefit from that (though there is, of course, also a lot of sugar and butter), and because it's homemade it has none of the ultra-processed (UPF) ingredients you will almost inevitably find in shop-bought baked goods.
You can read what happened when I gave up ultra-processed foods here.
Mary Berry's banana bread — Ingredients
To make Mary Berry's banana bread, you will need a 900g (2lb) loaf tin, with a base measurement of 17x9x9cm.
- 100g (4oz) butter, softened
- 175g (6oz) caster sugar
- Two eggs
- Two ripe bananas, mashed
- 225g (8oz) self-raising flour
- One tsp baking powder
- Two tbsp milk
Mary Berry's banana bread — Method
- Lightly grease the loaf tin and line it with non-stick baking parchment.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
- Measure all the ingredients and add them all into a mixing bowl. Beat for about two minutes, until well blended (an electric mixer will be best for this but you can also beat it by hand with a wooden spoon).
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface.
- Bake for about one hour, until well-risen and golden brown (you know it's cooked when you can insert a skewer or knife into the centre of the cake and it comes out clean).
- Leave the cake to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then loosen it and remove it. Remove the lining paper and leave the loaf on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Slice to serve as thick as you like — you can add butter but it's also delicious without!
