My favourite all time banana bread

Taking part of Frugal February means reassessing your needs and habits to see where you can cut back on spending. A time to spring clean and de-clutter, I know I've been meaning to but keep putting it off.

Such a great initiative. So far, I've sorted out the kids' room, donated toys, sold a few things online and taking stock of the pantry and food in the fridge to create fun meals for the kids.

With a few weary looking fruit in the fruit bowl, I thought it was the perfect excuse to whip up a simple banana bread to use up the over ripe bananas and sweet pears. Perfect for a mid morning play date snack.

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

Dry ingredients
1 cup of plain flour
1 cup of wholemeal flour
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp of freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp of ground cloves
1/2 tsp of salt

250g (1 stick) of unsalted butter
1 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
1 tsp of vanilla extract

2-3 very ripe mashed bananas
1 pear cut up finely (I keep the skin on as I rather like it)

One banana bread coming up

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees
2. Line the loaf pan with baking paper
3. Place all the dry ingredients into a bowl, mix and leave until needed.
3. Use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
4. Add 1 egg at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl for even mixing.
5. Add the milk and vanilla extract and continue mixing
6. Add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and mix until a smooth creamy consistency
7. Add in the mashed bananas into the mixture
8. Stir in the cut pear
9. Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake for 60-70mins or until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
10. Let it cool for 20mins before unmoulding
11. Serve slight warm with a dollop of butter, or at room temperature.

My official taste tester

Handy hints

*This banana bread keeps well wrapped in plastic for up to 3 days at room temperature.
*For longer storage, slice the banana bread to your preferred thickness and wrap in plastic wrap and keep in the freezer for 2 months. I also individually wrap slices rather than to defrost the whole loaf.

*Defrost in plastic wrap at room temperature.
*Or place the frozen banana bread slices into the toasted sandwich maker to give that crisp crunch
*I have also replaced the pears with apples and that works out a treat as well.

Deliciously moist banana bread