A delicious and filling banana malt loaf recipe that's easy to make and will keep little tummies full up. Great for lunch boxes or afternoon tea.
What is malt loaf?
It's a sticky, gooey loaf cake that fills up little tummies without being too unhealthy.
Here in the UK it's been around in shops for years in a yellow packet. I remember eating it often as a child - usually slathered in butter.
Making your own means you can ditch the plastic wrap. And you can add a portion of fruit (banana in this recipe) if you wish.
Great for snack time
In fact, malt loaf is the perfect snack (although just don't let kids eat it too close to dinner time as it's pretty filling). Because it's so chewy it takes a while to eat - good for passing a bit of time on a long bus ride - and it's a great lunchbox filler as well.
The key ingredients is malt extract
So I was all geared up to make my very own malt loaf.
I'd bought a small loaf tin and found a recipe in my trusty Mary Berry cookbook in one hand when I ran into a hurdle - I couldn't find any malt extract.
After trying my local supermarket I found it in the end in my local whole food store.
Add a portion of banana
Once I had it I decided to adapt the Mary Berry malt loaf recipe to include some fruit or veg.
This meant I'd be able to add it to my increasing repertoire of Sneaky Veg recipes.
However, I thought I'd play safe here though and leave the celeriac alone for a while, opting for banana instead.
The result? A really sticky cake that the kids devoured, much lighter than the malt loaf you get in a packet, but that seems to last forever nonetheless.
Pin banana malt loaf for later
Here's how to make banana malt loaf
If you have made this recipe I would love it if you’d leave a comment and rating below. Thank you!
Banana malt loaf
Ingredients
- 60 g buckwheat flour
- 60 g spelt flour you could substitute 110g of plain flour for this and the buckwheat if preferred
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 110 g sultanas
- 25 g brown sugar or honey
- 90 g malt extract
- ½ tablespoon black treacle can be omitted
- 1 egg beaten, or use a flax egg* to make it vegan
- 75 ml cold black tea
- 2 ripe bananas mashed
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 150°C(fan)/gas mark 2. Grease and baseline a 450g loaf tin (this is probably smaller than the one you'd normally use, I got one for £1.50 in Sainsbury's if you don't already have one) with baking paper.
- Sift the flours, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a bowl. Stir in the sultanas.
- Heat the sugar, malt extract and black treacle together over a low heat. Pour over the flour and sultana mix and add the egg, tea and bananas. Beat well until smooth. Pour into the prepared tin.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for about an hour, or until well risen and firm to the touch. Cool for 10 minutes or so in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
Notes
- Nutritional information is approximate and is intended as a guide only.
- To make a flax egg mix 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds with 2-3 tablespoons of cold water and set aside to form a gloopy paste. You can also use ground chia seeds.
Jo
The picture doesn't do it justice, mine was dark and sticky and really yummy. The mixture seemed really sloppy but baked fine. It kind of transforms after a couple of hours. Great as doesn't make crumbs when eating so good for car and after swimming
Mandy Mazliah
So glad you enjoyed it Jo
Julie
I love malt loaf, you've inspired me to make one too. Looks delicious.
Sneaky Veg
It was really nice, let me know if you try it!