Alexina's Banana Bread for Adults
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Recipe from my cookbook, Bitter
This is best the day after you bake it.
Makes 8–10 slices
Ingredients
80g (3oz) roughly chopped pecans (or walnuts)
3 overripe ripe bananas (about 420g/14oz)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
125g (4oz/generous 1/2 cup) light muscovado (or light brown) sugar
2 eggs
150ml (5fl oz/generous 1/2 cup) vegetable (or sunflower) oil
150g (5oz/scant 11/4 cups) self-raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp baking powder
11/2 tbsp instant espresso powder
2 tbsp demerara (turbinado) sugar
Equipment
900g (2lb) loaf tin
Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C fan/190°C/350°F/gas 4 and toast the pecans in the oven for 5-10 minutes as it heats up. Grease or line your loaf tin (these loaf tin liners are a game-changer).
Peel and mash the bananas with the vanilla, then whisk in the light muscovado sugar, followed by the eggs and oil.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and espresso powder). Whisk the dries into the banana mixture, then stir through the pecans.
Pour the batter into the lined loaf tin, then sprinkle over the demerara sugar. Bake for 50–60 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out fairly clean. If you can, resist eating this until the next day.