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This Swedish banana bread is the perfect recipe for using up any overly ripe bananas you may have! Whilst there are a lot of different ways to make banana bread by adding all sorts of extra ingredients, this recipe make a plain banana bread that really hits the spot served alongside a cup of tea in the afternoon!
If you wanted to give your banana bread a bit of a twist, why don’t you try out this Mini Banana and Walnut Loaf Cake recipe from the 2nd Bake Off Box? They are baked in a mini loaf tray and are decorated with some buttercream and crispy banana chips!
Top tips for making this Swedish Banana Bread
This recipe was originally given to my mum by a Swedish friend of hers. We have been making it for years and tweaked it here and there, but the recipe has largely stayed the same and has been tried and tested over many years!
The most important thing when making banana bread is to use very, very ripe bananas. The skin should be brown and even the flesh could already be starting to turn brown! I always remember the banana bread having little black specks throughout when my mum made it, indicating how ripe the bananas were! That means they will be very sweet and absolutely perfect for mashing up to make this Swedish banana bread.
The original recipe uses Swedish vanilla sugar, which is a powdered vanilla-flavoured sugar. My mum’s friend used to bring us some by the brand Dan Sukker… In Germany, where I grew up, you can buy sachets of vanilla sugar which is also fine to use even though it is made of larger granules and is similar to caster sugar. If you can´t get vanilla sugar where you are, just use a little more caster sugar instead and you could always add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste instead.
More Baking Recipes
I have loads more baking recipes on my blog – both sweet and savoury! So make sure you go and check out some of those, too!
- Tomato and Mozzarella Focaccia Bread
- Mini Lemon Fairy Cakes
- Sticky Toffee Cake with Pecan Praline
- Pizza Star Bread with Pesto, Tomato and Cheese
- Lemon Madeira Cake | British Baking Classic
- Homemade Crusty Sourdough Loaf
- Easy Carrot Cake Traybake
- Esterházy Cake | Hungarian Meringue Cake with Rum Buttercream
- Mary Berry’s Viennese Whirls
- Lemon Drizzle Cake | British Baking Classic
- Paul Hollywood’s Hand-raised Chicken, Bacon and Apricot Pies
Swedish Banana Bread | Sweet, Sticky and Moist
Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE CAKE:
- 2 very ripe bananas (wait until the skin is very brown, and maybe some parts on the inside are brown, too)
- 150g caster sugar
- 1 medium eggs
- 50g butter, melted
- 4 tbsp single or whipping cream
- 200g plain flour
- 10g Swedish vanilla sugar (or 1 sachet German vanilla sugar. Alternatively, use a little extra caster sugar and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste)
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
YOU WILL ALSO NEED:
- 2lb loaf tin
- some butter and baking paper to grease and line the tin
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 175°C fan. Lightly grease the loaf tin with butter and then place a long strip of baking paper across the length of the tin, leaving a bit of overhang on either side. This will make it easy to lift the banana bread out of its tin later.
- Mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl with a fork. Then add the caster sugar and mix/mash well.
- Next, add in the egg, melted butter and cream. Beat with an electric whisk until well combined.
- Mix the remaining dry ingredients in a bowl and then add to the banana mixture. Beat well until all the ingredients come together to form a thick batter.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf tin and level the surface.
- Place in the pre-heated. After 10 minutes, using a knife, make a 1cm deep cut down the middle of the cake.
- Return the cake to the oven and bake for a further 35-40 minutes, until golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before carefully removing from the tin.
