I baked: Banana and poppy seed loaf

My kids are bananas over bananas! They love them in all forms- banana ice cream, banana cake/loaf/bread and the banana fruit.

The kids set out for their evening walk and mummy gets baking. When they get home, they are greeted by the wonderful smell of this freshly baked banana & poppy seed loaf ;)

The recipe I have used several times now is adapted from BBC Good Food's "Brilliant Banana Loaf", and it's really easy. I have reduced the sugar level, as well as use soft brown sugar instead of caster sugar. And I also omit the icing sugar topping, because it is sweet enough and good as it is! For texture, I have added a small amount of blue poppy seeds. The baking time is slightly longer than stated in the original recipe (50 mins instead of 30mins).

Moist, tender and crumbly, we love this to bits and we can easily finish the whole loaf in one sitting. And yes, we the kids usually have to fight for the last piece!

Thanks mummy for the bake!

Banana and poppy seed loaf
Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 50-60 minutes
Serves 5-6

Ingredients
140g butter
125g soft brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
140g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 medium very ripe bananas, mashed
1 tbsp poppy seeds (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract


1. Heat oven to 180°C/160°C fan. Butter a 1kg loaf tin.

2. Using an electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then slowly add the eggs, one at a time.

3. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and fold into the butter-sugar mixture. Add the mashed bananas, vanilla extract and poppy seeds and mix well.

4. Pour into the tin, level the top with a spatula and bake for 50-60 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then remove to a wire rack. Serve warm.

A delicious tea-time treat ;)