Priya Hunt
I am not the greatest fan of bananas as a stand-alone fruit. But mix it up in a baked goodie and it becomes amazing! Banana bread, Banana cake and Banana brownies are a favourite. The fruit itself has a lot of nutritional value, including potassium and it smells divine while baking. My first encounter with a brownie was when I started working in British Airways. The mother of a colleague used to make the most amazing brownies and I was introduced to this soft, rich, chewy sweet delight. My recipe here has some healthy options like coconut sugar but you can substitute it with normal sugar (though I don’t recommend that). Try getting a really good quality organic peanut butter as that makes a difference.
What you need
- Self-raising flour: 200 gms
- Cocoa powder: 60 gms, keep 2 tbsp aside for lining the pan
- Overripe bananas: 4, well mashed
- Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
- Rose water: 1 tbsp
- Coconut sugar: 375 gms (you can replace with normal sugar)
- Butter, melted: 260 gms, keep 2 tbsp aside for lining the pan
- Salt: 1/4 tsp
- Crunchy peanut butter: 40 gms
What you do
- Warm an oven at 180 degrees C
- Take 50 grams of sugar in a pan and caramelise over low heat
- When it starts browning, mix in 2 tbsp of mashed banana and mix well until fully caramelised
- The above steps are optional. You can simply use all the sugar and bananas in the recipe below instead but doing the above gives it a crunchy, smoky feel. Keep an eye on the sugar mix as it can harden quickly and make sure you don’t burn yourself handling it
- Mix the rest of the sugar, melted butter, remaining bananas, caramelised mix (optional), vanilla and rose extracts and mix well
- Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the mix and whisk well
- Line a brownie pan with the reserved butter
- Sift the reserved cocoa powder evenly across the pan
- Pour the brownie mix and gently tap the pan so it spreads across evenly
- Dot the top of the mix with blobs of peanut butter, using a wet palate knife (or a flat knife), spread it across for a marbled effect
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, turn down the heat to 160 and bake for another 10-15 mins
- The mix should have stopped jiggling and if you insert a knife to check, it should come out clean when cooked
- Serve warm with vanilla ice-cream for an indulgent dessert
Caramelised Banana and Peanut Brownies
I am not the greatest fan of bananas as a stand-alone fruit. But mix it up in a baked goodie and it becomes amazing! Banana bread, Banana cake and Banana brownies are a favourite. The fruit itself has a lot of nutritional value, including potassium and it smells divine while baking. My first encounter with a brownie was when I started working in British Airways. The mother of a colleague used to make the most amazing brownies and I was introduced to this soft, rich, chewy sweet delight. My recipe here has some healthy options like coconut sugar but you can substitute it with normal sugar (though I don’t recommend that). Try getting a really good quality organic peanut butter as that makes a difference.
Ingredients
- Self-raising flour: 200 gms
- Cocoa powder: 60 gms keep 2 tbsp aside for lining the pan
- Overripe bananas: 4 well mashed
- Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
- Rose water: 1 tbsp
- Coconut sugar: 375 gms you can replace with normal sugar
- Butter melted: 260 gms, keep 2 tbsp aside for lining the pan
- Salt: 1/4 tsp
- Crunchy peanut butter: 40 gms
Instructions
- Warm an oven at 180 degrees C
- Take 50 grams of sugar in a pan and caramelise over low heat
- When it starts browning, mix in 2 tbsp of mashed banana and mix well until fully caramelised
- The above steps are optional. You can simply use all the sugar and bananas in the recipe below instead but doing the above gives it a crunchy, smoky feel. Keep an eye on the sugar mix as it can harden quickly and make sure you don’t burn yourself handling it
- Mix the rest of the sugar, melted butter, remaining bananas, caramelised mix (optional), vanilla and rose extracts and mix well
- Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the mix and whisk well
- Line a brownie pan with the reserved butter
- Sift the reserved cocoa powder evenly across the pan
- Pour the brownie mix and gently tap the pan so it spreads across evenly
- Dot the top of the mix with blobs of peanut butter, using a wet palate knife (or a flat knife), spread it across for a marbled effect
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, turn down the heat to 160 and bake for another 10-15 mins
- The mix should have stopped jiggling and if you insert a knife to check, it should come out clean when cooked
- Serve warm with vanilla ice-cream for an indulgent dessert