Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Eat: Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread


Last Sunday it snowed.

And snowed.

And snowed.

All of our plans were cancelled and all of the weekend chores were completed. I found myself with a whole lot of free time. Plus there was a small pile of bananas on the kitchen counter getting spottier and spottier by the minute. What else was a girl to do but bake some homemade banana bread? I checked out several recipes and compiled them into this deeeelicious cinnamon swirl confection. Let me tell ya, it's very good. Several-compliments-from-my-husband good. It has a lighter texture than that of most quick breads. The cinnamon-sugar flavor is a subtle and appetizing addition to the traditional flavor and it is a healthier alternative to chocolate banana bread.


Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

2 cups self-rising flour flour*
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt (or regular yogurt + splash of vanilla extract)
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup sugar
1-2 tsp cinnamon

*If you don't have self-rising flour, substitute with 2 cups regular flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Cream together the sugar and softened butter. Incorporate the eggs one at a time, then the yogurt and mashed bananas. Now mix in the self-rising flour (or previously combined flour, baking powder, and salt).

Pour about half of the batter into a greased loaf pan (8.5 x 4.5 inches). Now in a separate bowl, stir together the cinnamon and sugar. Pour about half of that onto the batter. Using a clean tooth pick or knife, swirl the cinnamon-sugar blend into the batter. Pour the remaining batter into the pan and top with the remaining cinnamon-sugar.

Bake for approximately 50 minutes. Allow the pan to cool slightly (5-10 minutes) before removing your bread. Run a knife along the interior sides of the pan to loosen the loaf. Invert the pan onto a plate to remove the bread. Then flip the loaf again right-side up.

Be sure to grab a slice while it is still warm!

Tip: Do you have some rapidly ripening bananas? Just toss them as-is into the freezer and save them for when you have time to bake. They will turn black and once thawed be a bit of a mushy mess. That being said, they are perfectly good for baking! Just smoosh the fruit out of the peel and into a bowl.




4 comments:

  1. I made banana bread Sunday too! Must have been something in the air :)

    ...like pounds and pounds of snow.

    This looks yummy! I'll have to try the cinnamon twist next time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How funny! As pretty as the snow was, I'm glad it's melting fast!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love banana bread but think it may be even yummier with cinnamon. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
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