Banana Bread with Nutella Crumble Topping

Alongside cooking, I absolutely love to bake — especially when it’s for someone special. Recently, I started a new relationship after being single for six years, and his birthday was a month into knowing eachother. It felt a bit soon for a big gift, so I thought: why not bake something personal?

He told me that his grandma used to make a banana bread with a crumble topping — the perfect excuse to try something new in the kitchen! While my first attempt turned out a little on the dry side (my bananas weren’t quite ripe enough — a good tip for when you try it!), he absolutely loved it. I hope you do too — it’s a delicious, nostalgic bake with a twist.

Ingredients

For the banana bread:

2 ripe bananas (3 if they are small)

2 eggs

100g softened butter or baking spread

200g self raising flour

175g caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp milk

50g hazelnuts roasted (trust me) then chopped finely (optional)

1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

For the crumble topping:

180g plain flour

100g caster/granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

110g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes

50g nutella

Method

Step 1

Lightly grease and line with greaseproof paper a 900g 17x9x9 rectangular loaf tin.

Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.

Step 2

Mix all the banana bread ingredients in a bowl with an electric mixer until combined (not the crumble topping ingredients!). Let rest whilst you make the crumble topping.

Step 3

For the crumble topping, combine in a large mixing bowl the 180g flour, 100g sugar, baking powder and salt.

Add the egg and cubed chilled butter to the mixture and using your fingers (or pastry cutter) crumble the mixture between your fingers until the flour and butter are combined and resemble course crumbs. This may take 5-10 minutes to ensure its fully combined.

Step 4

Add the banana bread mixture to the greased tin. Top with your crumble topping and put in the oven for around an hour, until the mixture has cooked through.

Top Tip: You may have some crumble topping left over, I suggest baking it in the oven to make delicious crumbles you can add to ice cream/yoghurt – store in an airtight container for up to a week!

Step 5

Once the banana bread is cooked, melt the nutella in the microwave for 30-45 seconds until liquid enough to drizzle over the top of your banana bread.

Once cooled, slice up and enjoy!