Banana bread for school lunches

I don't know what it is about this time of year that makes me want to reinvent. Maybe it's the impending springtime rebirth, or perhaps it is a feeling of wanting to shake off the cobwebs, but this week I want to make a concerted effort to vary what goes into the kids lunchboxes.
One of the pages I follow on Facebook is Weelicious. It is a great site for promoting healthy and adventurous eating for kids, but it is very aspirational and as an Irishwoman, it is hard not to be a little cynical about the slightly smug tone of the posts! I know I am being absolutely unfair, but I put it down to jealousy (on my behalf of course) Anyhow, to get back to the point, every other day, she posts a picture of the contents of her children's lunchboxes and lists them; mango, mung beans, raw beetroot, cottage cheese surprise.... I jest, but it is fairly close. I do read the entries and think that on the whole, the prep time for the lunchboxes are altogether achievable, it is just the variety of ingredients that may be beyond my local SuperValu!
So, in my smuggest tone of voice, I am going to now sell you the virtues of banana bread in your child's lunchbox. It is sweet, nutritious and more importantly a change from the usual limp ham sandwich and crunchy jam-and-no-butter offering that usually inhabits the tupperware treasure chest!

This recipe is from The Kitchen Wizard, my first cookery book and the inspiration for the name of my business. It is a gem of a recipe and easy enough for kids to cook it.

Banana bread

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas mashed

2 eggs beaten

25g melted butter

1 t vanilla essence

225g plain flour

175g sugar

1 t baking powder

1 t salt

50g roughly chopped pecans `(optional)

Preheat the oven to 180c and grease and flour a loaf tin

In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas into a pulp, it’s ok for it to be a little lumpy. Add in the beaten eggs, melted butter and vanilla essence. Stir to combine.

In another bowl, stir together the dry ingredients until just combined. It is important not to overmix as it will become tough. Add in the nuts at this stage.

Pour into the loaf tin and put into the oven for an hour. Check if it is cooked after 50 mins by piercing with a skewer, it is cooked if it comes out clean.

This keeps really well covered in tin foil and is yummy spread with butter and served with a hot cup of tea.
Enjoy!