Valentine’s Day Banana Bread (Vegan GF-Option)

Step 1

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla essence and the milk until smooth. Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and add in the salt. Stir to a thick dough, bringing together with your hands.Wrap and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line 2-3 large baking trays with parchment paper.Lightly dust a large piece of parchment paper. Divide the dough in half and roll out on the dusted parchment underneath a second piece of parchment. Roll to about 1/2cm thickness and cut out cookie shapes. Re-roll any scraps and continue to use up all the dough.Work in batches to bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes or until golden – smaller cookies will cook in less time.Allow to cool fully on a wire rack. Once cool, stir together the icing sugar, water and optional food colouring until thick but pipe-able and ice/decorate the cookies.

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line a loaf tin. Mash the bananas until smooth in a large mixing bowl. Add in the chia seeds, milk, sunflower oil, maple syrup, vanilla essence and sugar. Leave for 5 minutes.Add in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and food colouring. Stir to a thick and smooth batter. Pour into the loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, remove from the tin and cool fully on a wire rack.Either continue onto step 1 below to make the hidden heart banana bread or skip to step 6 to frost this cake.

Step 3

Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line a loaf tin. Using the cooled pink banana bread, slice into thin slices (the same thickness as your cookie cutter) and cut out a heart from each slice. Store the leftover cake in a container or eat. Keep the hearts in order.Make the plain banana bread batter: mash the bananas until smooth in a large mixing bowl. Add in the chia seeds, milk, sunflower oil, maple syrup, vanilla essence and sugar. Leave for 5 minutes.Add in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Stir to a thick and smooth batter. Pour a few tablespoons of batter into the loaf tin to cover the base. Line up the pink banana bread hearts down the centre of the tin and carefully cover with the rest of the plain banana bread batter. Bake the loaf for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, remove from the tin and cool fully on a wire rack.Prepare the frosting by beating the butter until smooth and gradually add in the icing sugar, food colouring/powder and plant-based milk until thick and smooth.Spread onto the cooled cake and decorate with sugar cookies and sprinkles. Store the banana bread in an airtight container for 3-5 days or freeze (un-frosted) in slices.