Banana & Raspberry Bread
I come across a LOT of ripe bananas in my role. As everybody knows, the fruit goes from yellow to overripe quite fast.
In the UK, it is estimated that 1.4m edible bananas are binned every day at a cost of £80m a year. A third of consumers admit to discarding a banana if it has even a minor bruise or black mark on the skin. More than one in 10 also throw the fruit away if it shows any green on the skin.
This waste has an impact:
- About 5-gallons of water per day is required for one banana tree alone
- They are mostly flown or shipped over to our country, creating more CO2 gases
- As with all foods in landfill, as they decompose, they produce greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, i.e. global warming
For more information on Food Waste and Climate Change, please see our LCBC Blog.
For this recipe, I also included some frozen raspberries to boost the fruit content and to add a tangy contrast to the sweetness of the bananas, as well as a couple of Weetabix that no one in the family wanted. #LoveFoodHateWaste
BANANA & RASPBERRY BREAD
Equipment
- Scales
- mixing bowl
- Fork
- Loaf tin
- Oven
Ingredients
- 50 g butter
- 50 g brown sugar you can use regular sugar, but brown enhances the flavours
- 2 medium ripe bananas
- 2 eggs
- 100 ml milk
- 100 g wholemeal flour*
- 100 g plain flour*
- 2 tsp baking powder*
- 125 g raspberries frozen or fresh
- Handful of rolled oats
- 1 tbsp demerara sugar or use brown
- 2 Weetabix, crushed
Instructions
- Oven 180c.
- Beat the butter with the sugar then mash in the bananas until as smooth as possible. Beat in the eggs and milk. Alternatively, add these ingredients to a food processor and blend then pour into a mixing bowl.
- Stir in the baking powder, flour and Weetabix then mix well. Gently stir in the raspberries.
- Pour into a greased or lined loaf tin. Mix the oats with the demerara sugar then evenly sprinkle over the batter. Bake for 55 - 60 mins (an inserted skewer or knife should come out clean).
- Leave to cool for 30 mins before removing from the tin. For better slicing, leave to cool fully
Notes
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Nutritional Benefits:
Bananas: Potassium is important to maintain the functioning of cells, nerves and muscles
Tryptophan helps lift the mood and sleep
Raspberries: Antioxidant vitamin C for repair of tissues and maintaining the immune system
Berries are best eaten raw as some of the vitamin C content is destroyed when exposed to heat. Using frozen raspberries for this recipe means that the heat does not penetrate the fruit as much meaning more nutrients are retained.
Like all fruit, bananas and raspberries are a source of soluble fibre; essential for a healthy digestive system.
Wholemeal flour contains more B vitamins (needed to release energy from nutrients and a healthy nervous system) and vitamin E content than white (helping wound healing, immunity and healthy eyes, skin and red blood cells) as well as insoluble fibre essential for good digestive health and stabilising blood sugars.
Lower sugar than most sweet baked foods.
