Take those blackened overripe bananas and make this delicious Banana and Chocolate Chunk Loaf. Banana cakes are so simple to make and everyone seems to love them. They make use of those bananas you didn’t think could be eaten and are a great way to get your children in the kitchen.

Whilst I’ve used chocolate chunks today, you can also add walnuts, dried fruit or spices if you want to. I keep my chocolate chunky because I love the pockets of gooey chocolate you get and they really help to break up the banana flavour, however if you want to grate your chocolate, use chocolate chips or have it chunky like me, by all means go for it. This is a Mary Berry recipe so you know it’s good!

I doubled the original quantities from the BBC website because I use a wide 2lb loaf tin and use a loaf tin liner to make it easier to get out of the tin. The baking time is reduced to about 30 minutes instead of the stipulated 40 – 45 minutes which is always good in my book!

Here are some other food blogger’s loaf cake and banana recipes:

Persephone H’s Cardamom Coffee Spiced Banana Loaf (which sounds so delish!)

Tin and Thyme’s Chocolate Muscovado Banana Bread

Emsypickle’s Banana Chocolate Walnut Monkey Muffins (so cute!)

Happy Little Cake’s Gluten-free Banana Caramel Cake

The Epsom Bakehouse’s Brilliant Banoffee Bread

My Kitchen Adventure’s Banana Loaf with Pecans and Chocolate Chips

2 ripe (or overripe) bananas, peeled

100g margarine

150g self-raising flour

1/8 tsp baking powder

150g caster sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp milk

100g dark chocolate, chopped into chunks

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Line a 2lb loaf tin with a loaf tin liner and set aside.

In a bowl using a fork, mash the bananas until it is smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients for the cake in and beat using an electric whisk for 1 minute until it is an even batter. Fold through the chocolate chunks using a spatula, making sure the sides of the bowl have been scraped down.

Pour the mixture into the loaf tin, giving the tin a wobble to level out the mixture and bake for 30 – 35 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before cooling on a wire rack completely.

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