I made these delicious brownies for my son Theo’s 25th birthday tea, using store cupboard ingredients and some over ripe bananas. When I posted them on social media I was asked many times for the recipe, so here it is. Enjoy!

Banana, pecan and cranberry brownie recipe 

 

A scrumptious  combination of fudgy brownie and chewy cranberries with chunks of pecans and chocolate.

(Apologies for the lack of cooking photos, but I didn’t take any when I was baking!)

23 x 33 cm baking tin (approx) (9 x 13”) lined with greaseproof paper or greased with butter

Heat oven to 180º fan (200º C, 400º F, Gas mark 6)

 

Ingredients

(American cup sizes are approximate)

3 over ripe bananas, mashed

150g / 1 1/4 cup plain flour (white or brown)

75g / 3/4 cup cocoa powder

200g  / 2 cups bar of plain chocolate, chopped into chunks 

100g / 1 cup whole pecans

125g / 1/2 cup dried cranberries

225g / 1 cup butter*

250g / 1 1/2 cups soft brown sugar

2 large eggs (I used 2 duck eggs)

1 tsp vanilla extract 

*I used salted butter because that’s what we had in the fridge. If using unsalted add 1/2 tsp sea salt to the mix with the flour.

Method

Melt butter and sugar together in a bain marie (or microwave if that’s your thing). Leave to cool. Don’t add the eggs to a warm mixture or you could end up with very sweet scrambled eggs!

In another bowl, beat the eggs and add the vanilla extract.

Once the butter and sugar mixture has cooled, add the eggs and stir to mix. Next add the mashed banana and stir.

Sift the cocoa and flour into the bowl, and salt (if using) and stir, among sure there are no lumps of flour or cocoa. There will be some lumps of banana – that is fine.

Add the chocolate chunks, pecans and cranberries. Stir to combine.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for approx 35 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out ‘clean’ (ie: no signs of sticky mixture).

Leave to cool before slicing, or serve warm with cream or ice cream.

Store in an airtight tin a cool place. If the weather is really warm, store in the fridge. The brownies will keep for three months or so in the freezer, wrapped  well to avoid freezer burn.

Swaps:
Swap the plain chocolate for milk, if you prefer a sweeter brownie.

Swap the pecans for walnuts

Swap the cranberries for any dried fruit you fancy. Chop large dried fruits such as figs or dates before adding to the mix.