Mary Berry's banana bread recipe includes a simple additional ingredient that makes it even more delicious: chocolate chips. The recipe, originally shared in 2012 for The Great Sport Relief Bake Off, has been re-shared by BBC Food, which described it as "small, but perfectly formed and loaded with chocolate chips."
A recipe for overripe bananas
The recipe is ideal for using up overripe bananas and can be adapted with chopped pecans or walnuts. The BBC Food introduction adds: "You can even drizzle the top with melted chocolate if you like."
Ingredients and method
For 6-8 servings, the ingredients are: one ripe banana (peeled weight 100g), one tablespoon of milk, 50g of soft butter or baking spread, 75g of plain flour, 75g of caster sugar, half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, half a teaspoon of baking powder, one free-range egg, 50g of dark chocolate chips, and 50g of dark chocolate.
Preheat the oven to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3, and grease and line a 450g loaf tin with baking paper. Mash the peeled banana with a fork in a mixing bowl, then add the remaining cake ingredients except the chocolate and beat with an electric whisk until smooth. Mix in the chocolate chips, spoon the mixture into the tin, and level the top.
Baking and finishing
Bake for 40–45 minutes until well-risen. Cool for about 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, ensuring the bowl does not touch the water, and stir until almost completely melted. Spoon the melted chocolate into a piping bag and pipe zig-zags across the top, or drizzle from a spoon. Set aside to allow the chocolate to set, then slice and serve.
