Family Banana Bread Bake-Off

Split into two teams, bake classic banana bread and banana nut bread (it has tree nuts) side by side, then hold a taste test with a scorecard.

Bake one of these

• 
  Junior Bakers

  Classic Banana Bread

• 
  Junior Bakers

  Banana Nut Bread

What you need

• Two loaf pans
• Two mixing bowls and two forks for mashing
• Very ripe bananas for both teams (yellow with lots of brown spots)
• Two plates marked A and B
• Pencils and the Family Bake-Off Scorecard printable

Steps

1. Pick teamsWash your hands first and check every ingredient with your grown-up. Split into two teams, each with a grown-up. Team Classic bakes the classic loaf and Team Nut bakes the nut loaf. If anyone avoids tree nuts, both teams bake the classic loaf and Team Nut stirs in chocolate chips instead.
2. Mash and mixMash the bananas with a fork until almost smooth. Your grown-up runs the electric mixer, and you add each ingredient only while it is switched off. Keep fingers, hair and spoons away from the beaters. No tasting the raw batter, and wash your hands again after you touch raw egg.
3. BakeYour grown-up bakes both loaves and checks them with the toothpick test from Lesson 12: clean or with a few dry crumbs means the middle is done. A smear of melted chocolate does not count as wet batter. Practice your best judging voice while you wait.
4. Secret slicesWhen the loaves are cool, a grown-up slices them with a sharp knife and puts the slices on plates A and B. You might spot nuts or chips, but try to judge each slice fairly.
5. Score itOn the scorecard, Plate A is Bake 1 and Plate B is Bake 2. Everyone tastes both and colors in stars for looks and taste. Leave the lines about who baked what blank for now. There are no wrong answers, only favorites.
6. Everyone winsReveal which loaf was which, fill in who baked what, and color the teamwork and clean-up stars together. Share one thing you loved about each. Everyone wins a job for next time, like chief masher or head measurer.

Make it yours

• Invent a team name and a team cheer
• Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top before baking
• Next time, swap recipes and see if the scores change

Print the Family Bake-Off Scorecard