Spiced Banana & Date Bread

I have bananas coming out of my ears at the moment. This seems to me a reoccurring event for me...I stock up on bananas when they are on special and I never get around to eating them, then they end up looking rather sad and I am left searching for recipes to use them up.

I decided this time it was going to be banana bread. I haven’t made it for a while and I thought I would look for a new recipe. The one I usually make is a healthyfied one which uses apple sauce as a substitute for oil or butter, which works wonders, but as I was going to take it into work for my colleagues to devour, I thought I should not subject them to my health quirks.

This banana bread was yummy, and got the thumbs up from all my work colleagues. It was moist with lots of banana flavour, but I think it could have done with a little more spice.


Spiced Banana & Date Bread
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 lightly beaten eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup olive oil
3/4 cup mashed ripe banana
1 cup chopped dates

Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line a 10cm x 20cm loaf tin. Sift flour into a large bowl. Add brown sugar, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda. Make a well in the centre.

Place eggs, milk and olive oil in a large bowl and whisk until well combined. Stir through banana and dates.

Pour the banana mixture into the centre of the flour mixture, folding gently until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Remove from oven and set aside to cool for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.