Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt.
• In a large bowl, cream together softened butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
• Add mashed bananas, milk, and vanilla extract to the butter mixture. Stir until well combined.
• Gradually add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture, stirring just until the batter is moistened. Do not overmix.
• Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
• Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and let the banana bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

• 300g plain flour
• 75g salted butter, cubed
• 100g cream cheese
• 1 tbsp icing sugar

For the filling:

• 150g salted butter
• 200ml maple syrup
• 250g light brown soft sugar
• 100g dark brown soft sugar
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 400g pecans, finely chopped
• 200g dark chocolate chips, or a bar, chopped

Method:

1. First, make the pastry. Tip the ingredients into a food processor with 1 /4 tsp salt. Blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Drizzle 2-3 tsp cold water into the funnel while the blade is running – the mixture should start to clump together. Tip onto a work surface and bring together, kneading briefly into a ball. Pat into a disc, wrap in cling film, and chill for at least 20 mins. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
2. Remove the pastry from the fridge and leave at room temperature for 5 mins to soften. Flour the work surface, then unwrap the pastry and roll to a circle the thickness of a £1 coin. Use the pastry to line a deep, 23cm round fluted tin – mine was about 3cm deep. Press the pastry into the corners and up the sides, making sure there are no gaps. Leave 1cm pastry overhanging (save some of the pastry scraps for later). Line with baking parchment (scrunch it up first to make it more pliable) and fill with baking beans. Blind-bake for 15-20 mins until the sides are set, then remove the parchment and beans and return to the oven for 5 mins until golden brown. Trim the pastry so it’s flush with the top of the tin – a small serrated knife is best for this. If there are any cracks, patch them up with the pastry scraps.
3. Meanwhile, weigh the butter, syrup and sugars into a pan, and add 1 /4 tsp salt. Heat until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and cool for 10 mins. Reduce oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.
4. Beat the eggs in a bowl. Add the syrup mixture, vanilla and pecans, and mix until well combined. Pour half the mixture into the tart case, scatter over half the chocolate chips, then cover with the remaining filling and chocolate chips. Bake on the middle shelf for 50-55 mins until set. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, then chill for at least 2 hrs before serving.

Tip: