Banana biscuits

Perfect for using up bananas that are a bit past their best, these biscuits are my take on my mums take on a recipe from a Winnie the Pooh cookbook. I like to make them pretty thick so they end up having a brownie-like texture while the blend of banana and dark brown sugar gives them a caramelised and oh-so yummy taste. Versions of this have been firm family favourites since I was a little kid. Plus they only take around half an hour to make from start to finish so are perfect to whip up for guests or when you just have to have a sweet treat. Using banana and whole meal flour make it healthy, right?!

Ingredients:

150g butter
300g wholemeal flour
300g dark brown sugar
200g bananas (peeled)

Method:

Preheat the oven 180c fan (200c non fan).  to In a large bowl, run together the butter and whole meal flour until it resembles bread crumbs. To do this, gently rub your thumb over your flat fingers sifting the butter and flour between, this should only take a couple of minutes when you get the technique down. Add the dark brown sugar stirring it in gently so as to leave some lumps as these will caramelise during the baking leaving pockets of sugary goodness.

I mash the bananas on a plate with a fork until they become almost liquid but this could also be done in a blender. Add the mashed bananas into the bowl and with a stiff spatula or spoon slowly bring everything together. At this point you will doubt that you have read the recipe correctly as it feels like the proportions are all wrong but I promise it will work. The ingredients will suddenly come together and you should have a thick cake batter.

Grease and line a large baking tin (approx 30cm by 15cm) making sure it has a good rim around the edge. Gently place the mix in and smooth out, don't worry if it's a little uneven, the thickness makes it hard to spread. Pop this in the oven for 15-20 minutes until dark golden and there is a slight crust on top.

Once the biscuits are partially cooled, if you can wait that long, remove them from the paper and cut into generous chunks. I usually get around 12 from this recipe. These are incredibly addictive so when you have scoffed the whole pile, don't say you weren't warned! Enjoy!