Tasty Tuesday: Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

Last Saturday night at 10PM (don’t ask, that’s a whole other topic) I was scrubbing my glass top stove and could smell the aging bananas sitting next to it.  So, first thing on my agenda on Sunday (after coffee and chocolate chip pancakes, of course) was to “do something” with said bananas.  I love banana bread, I love banana bars, but wanted something different.  So, I took to my trusted Pinterest account and found a recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread from “Lovin From The Oven“.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

Bread Batter:

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/3 c. melted butter
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 t. baking soda
• dash of salt
• 1 1/2 c. flour

Mix the bananas, butter, egg, and vanilla together beating until smooth.  Then, stir (by hand) in the baking soda, salt, and flour).  Now, as my picture would prove, I will admit that I used baking powder instead of soda because…well, I have no excuses (other than I was being read an entire website by a 10 year old…does that count?)  As I snack on the bread, I don’t know how much of a difference it would have made and the bread is still tasty!

Cinnamon Swirl Topping:

• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1 T. cinnamon

Grease your loaf pan (I use the stoneware pan from Pampered Chef and love it because whatever color your bread is on top, it what it looks like all around, no burned bottom and raw inside.  I also use parchment paper on top of spray for easy removal!).  Preheat your oven to 350.  Pour half your batter in your loaf pan and sprinkle half your topping over that.  Then, pour the rest of your batter in and top with remaining topping. Now, once again, I was distracted by the new football mouthpiece that was also being “cooked” in my kitchen at the same time (life with boys, right?)  and didn’t read the directions all the way through, so I ended up pouring all the batter in the pan and cutting in half of the topping with a butter knife and then putting the rest on the top of my batter.  Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.  Mine ended up being about 53 minutes.

Cool and enjoy!  The bread is very banana flavored and very moist which I like.  The topping kind of breaks off when you cut the bread, but is tasty to just eat as it falls off.  The next time I make this (because there will be a next time) I will make sure to layer the batter and the topping for the full effect!  I highly recommend this recipe be put in your sweet bread line up!