Sweet nutty fruity banana, date and fig loaf

I have never been a huge bread person. Probably because I grew up eating rice, and we had no oven (Koreans didn’t use to bake much). Also my grandma always told me that bread is hard to digest and I would have tummy ache if I ate too much of it. (She loves the baked goods now though, especially sweet fluffy cakes :-)). So naturally I am not much of a baker, especially the sweet kind. I made a chicken pie and a flat bread long time ago, but I didn’t enjoy the process enough to go back to baking for some reason. My husband on the other hand, grew up eating tones of amazing cakes, pies and cookies made by his mom. He is also an excellent baker himself and has been taking care of the dessert department for all our dinners and parties for years. Only recently I started to bake sweet things, just out of curiosity and of course, ‘The Great British Bake Off’. (If there is anyone out there who hasn’t watched the show yet, start right now!) My first attempt was a disaster at best, I really didn’t know what I was doing or baking. In fact I still can’t tell what I was trying to make at that time. I started to get the hang of it from my second bake though and I have to say I absolutely love baking. I don’t know why I didn’t start earlier! There’s going to be a lot more baking in my kitchen from now on for sure. This nutty fruity banana loaf is my 5th baked good and also the most successful one so far. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 🙂

• Prep & Cooking time: 1hr 10mins
• Cooling time: 20mins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup. all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup. raw or brown sugar
• 1 cup. ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup. walnuts, chopped to small chunks
• 1/2 cup, pitted dates, chopped to small chunks
• 1/2 cup, dried figs, chopped to small chunks
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup. coconut oil
• non-stick baking spray or baking paper

 

1. Pre-heat oven to 175c.

2. Sift flour, baking soda into a mixing bowl. Add in salt and raw sugar.

3. Add mashed bananas, chopped walnuts, dates, and figs.

4. Add beaten eggs and coconut oil. Whisk until smooth.

5. Coat 9 x 5 x 3″ loaf tin with non-stick baking spray or line with baking paper (I prefer this method these days).

6. Scrape the batter into the tin. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a thin skewer or a tooth pick comes out clean. The actual oven temperature can vary, do check after recommended baking time.

7. Cool the loaf for 20 minutes before you take it out of the tin.

8. You should be able to get it out by flipping over the tin. If you can’t, run a knife around the loaf to release.

9. Slice and serve.