Banana Raspberry Bread

One can never have too many banana bread recipes especially because it is so easy to make them your own. A few delicious ingredients and in my case, I always love a good drizzle or a complementing glaze. Who said banana bread has to be boring!

Since spices seem to be making it’s way into everything I’m baking at the moment, my banana bread couldn’t go without it either. A cinnamon spiked cake smells so Christmassy in the oven.  I recently tried my hand at making peanut butter at home and that I thought would make a lovely icing. My peanut butter was crunchy so the resulting glaze was also nutty and just terrific with the banana bread. You could go with whatever you have at hand.

Banana Raspberry Bread
Serves 6-8

2 and 1/4 cup self raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2/3 cup castor sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly whisked
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup raspberries + extra for topping

Peanut Butter Icing
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 and 1/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.  Grease the base and sides of a loaf pan and line the base with baking paper.
Combine dry ingredients (flour, bicarbonate soda, cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, oil, eggs, bananas and vanilla together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together till smooth. Fold in raspberries. 
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the oven for an hour or until cooked through (a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean).
Remove from oven, leave aside for 5 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely. When cooled to room temperature, drizzle with peanut butter icing.
To make the peanut butter icing, beat peanut butter until light and fluffy. add the sugar little at a time and continue to beat till incorporated. Add the vanilla and milk and mix till well blended. If icing is too think, thicken it by adding more sugar.