Autumn is well and truly underway, so to help you warm up your insides, Dame Mary Berry has shared her recipe for the ultimate baking treat.

If you’re conscious about your food going out of date, Mary’s simple and easy chocolate banana bread can use up any surplus.

Mary’s recipe uses a classic loaf cake recipe, but to make it stand out just a little bit more, she’s added a handful of dark chocolate chips to give it a richer flavour.

Or if you’re looking to add another texture dimension to the banana bread, Mary suggested adding 50g of chopped pecans or walnuts, just for a little bit of crunch.

The recipe takes less than 30 minutes to prepare and around 40 to 45 minutes to cook, making it the perfect choice to rustle up a midweek treat.

It’s already made an impression on other home bakers, receiving a near perfect 4.5 out of five star rating on the BBC Food website.

Mary’s loaf cake serves between six to eight, depending on how big your slice is.

The website reads: “Mary Berry’s banana bread recipe is small, but perfectly formed and loaded with chocolate chips. You can double this classic loaf cake recipe if you have lots of bananas to use up.”

So if you’re after a recipe with minimal effort, here’s what you’ll need.

Method

Preheat the oven 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line a 450g loaf tin with baking paper.

Use a fork to mash the peeled banana in a mixing bowl. Add the remaining cake ingredients (except the chocolate chips) and beat with an electric hand whisk until combined and smooth.

Stir in the chocolate chips and spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Level the top.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until well risen, shrinking away from the sides of the tin and golden-brown.

Set aside to cool for ten minutes, then remove from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

For the optional decoration, break the chocolate into small pieces and add to a heatproof bowl.

Melt the chocolate in the bowl over a pan of simmering water (ensuring that the bowl does not touch the water). Stir regularly, until almost completely melted, then remove from the heat. The heat of the bowl will melt any remaining lumps.

Spoon the melted chocolate into a piping bag and pipe zig-zags across the top of the loaf. Set aside for the chocolate to set. Slice and serve.