Cream Cheese Banana Bread

Can a person ever have too many recipes for banana bread?!  When I came across this recipe over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe, I knew I should give it a whirl!  This is a yummy dense banana bread with the perfect sweet note from the streusel topping!

Enjoy!



Cream Cheese Banana Bread

3/4 Cup Butter, softened
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla
1 Cup Mashed Bananas (approx. 3 ripe bananas)
3 Cups Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/8 Tsp Ground Nutmeg

Streusel:
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Flour
1/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two 8.5x4.5" loaf pans and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).  Mix in eggs, vanilla, and bananas.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until combined.

In a small bowl, use a fork or clean hands to mix together streusel ingredients.

Divide batter evenly among pans and sprinkle streusel on top.

Bake for 50-60 minutes until top is domed and toothpick comes out clean from the middle.  Let cool approximately 10 minutes before removing from pan to finish cooling on rack.

Banana Bread Coffee Cake

Love banana bread?  Love coffee cake?  Looking for a way to use up some ripe bananas?  You're going to love this yummy coffee cake with bananas added!

Enjoy!


Banana Bread Coffee cake

Cake:
3/4 Cup Butter, softened
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
3 Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla
3/4 Cup Buttermilk
1 Cup Mashed Bananas (about 3 ripe bananas)
2 1/2 Cups Flour
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Baking Powder

Filling:
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Crumb Topping:
2 Cups Flour
2/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
6 Tbsp Butter, melted

In a small bowl, mix filling ingredients and set aside.  In another small bowl, stir together dry ingredients for crumb topping, then add melted butter until large crumbs form and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a 9"x13" pan and set aside.  Cream together butter and sugar, then add eggs and vanilla - beat on high until smooth.  Mix dry ingredients with whisk in separate bowl, then slowly add into butter mixture until just combined - add buttermilk and bananas.  Spread half the batter into the pan, sprinkle filling evenly over batter, and spread remaining batter on top.  Use a butter knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter.  Sprinkle crumb mixture over the top.  Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center of the cake comes out clean.

Chocolate Chocolate Banana Bread

Before I became a stay-at-home-mom, I worked in a business office with it's own cafeteria.  The cafeteria used to make delicious, chocolate chocolate chip muffins people would vie for.  You often felt like you won the lotto if you made it to the cafeteria in the morning and one was left for you!  So, when I came across this recipe, I couldn't help but give it a try!!

This bread is a dense, chocolate, banana infused slice of yummy!  We couldn't get enough of it and the kids really enjoyed slathering on some leftover cream cheese frosting from some cupcakes we made earlier that day! 

This recipe makes 2 - 8x4" loaves, but can easily be split to make a single loaf.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chocolate Banana Bread

2 Cups Sugar
4 Eggs
2/3 Cup Oil
2 1/2 Cups Mashed Banana (approximately 5-6 bananas)
2 Tsp Vanilla
3 Cups Flour
1 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa
2 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Salt
2 Cups ((12 oz bag) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray bottoms of loaf pans.  In medium bowl, combine sugar, eggs, and oil - beat on medium speed until combined.  Slowly beat in mashed banana and vanilla.  In a separate bowl mix together (I use a wire whisk) flour, cocoa, soda, and salt.  On medium speed, beat in flour mixture with banana mixture until just combined.  Stir in chocolate chips and then divide batter between pans.  Bake for 60-75 minutes - until a toothpick comes out clean from center.  Remove from oven, let cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Remove from pans and finish cooling on wire rack.

Banana Bread

There are probably a 100 million banana bread recipes out there that are ALL good, but I have to share yet another yummy one I happened to make!  In some random google search I came across this recipe and boy am I glad I did!

Tip: I used 2 - 8" loaf pans with perfect results.  You can also add 1 cup of toasted pecans if you wish.

Enjoy!

Banana Bread

1 Cup Butter, softened
2 Cups Sugar
4 Eggs
3 Cups Flour
2 Tsp Baking Soda
2 Tsp Salt
2 Cups Banana, mashed (approximately 5 bananas)
2 Tsp Vanilla
1 Cup Sour Cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease loaf pans.  Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt (and pecans if desired) together in bowl - set aside.  In separate bowl,  mash bananas - add sour cream and vanilla until combined.  With stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy (3-5 minutes).  Add eggs, one at a time.  While mixer is running, add banana mixture and mix until just combined.  Stir in flour mixture by hand - making sure any batter on the bottom of the bowl is well incorporated.  Pour batter into prepared bans and bake for approximately 45-60 minutes.  Bread will be golden brown, with toothpick coming clean from the center.  Let bread cool for 20 minutes in pan before turning on wire racks to finish cooling.

Old Fashioned Banana Bread

How can a person ever have too many banana bread recipes?!  This bread is nice and dense and does not require any oil, unlike a lot of other recipes.  This has become one of my go to recipes and would also be wonderful with the addition of nuts.
Enjoy!

Old Fashioned Banana Bread

1/2 Cup Butter, softened
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs (room temperature)
2 Tbsp Sour Cream
1 Cup Bananas, mashed
1 Tsp Vanilla
2 Cups Flour
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour loaf pan.  Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy - slowly add eggs, 1 at a time.  Add sour cream, bananas, vanilla and mix well.  Then, add all dry ingredients, mixing until combined.  Slowly add buttermilk and pour mixture into prepared pan.  Bake for 50-70 minutes until toothpick in center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan - finish cooling on wire rack.

Yields - 1 Large Loaf

Banana Honey Oatmeal Bread

If a person eats an entire loaf of healthy banana bread, does that mean it's not healthy anymore?!  Because I could eat an entire loaf of this stuff!  I have a house full of monkeys and more often than not, do not have "left-over" bananas to bake with.  Fortunately this week, my monkeys left me a few to work with.  I ended up making this not-your-every-day healthy banana bread.  It is full of texture, flavor, ohh so moist, and not a single pinch of sugar added!

Enjoy!

Banana Honey Oatmeal Bread

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp Salt
3/4 Cup Oats
1 Cup Mashed Ripe Banana's (approximately 2-3)
2 Eggs
2/3 Cup Honey
1/3 Cup Sour Cream or Yogurt
1/4 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Tsp Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In medium bowl, mix together flours, baking powder, soda, and salt with whisk, then stir in oats.  In mixing bowl, beat remaining ingredients until well combined.  Add dry ingredients to the banana mixture until just combined.  Pour batter into greased loaf pan.  Bake for 50-60 minutes until toothpick comes out clean from center.  Cool for 15 minutes in pan before removing, then finish cooling on wire rack.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

We have had some beautiful, almost fall-like, weather in my area.  With cooler weather, I usually have the desire to bake more and these beauties were first on my list!  I've had this recipe in my stash since I first saw it over at MKC - her recipe's haven't failed me yet, this one included!  Talk about YUMMY!!
Note:  If you don't have fresh pumpkin puree, you can use one - 15 oz can without any problems.  Also, as you can see, I'm not real picky about my cream cheese being in the center - you can be as picky as you want when you make them! :)

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Yields: 24 muffins

Muffins:
3 Cups Flour
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Nutmeg
1 Tsp Ground Cloves
1 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Baking Soda
4 Eggs
1 1/4 Cups Oil
2 Cups Sugar
2 Cups Pumpkin Puree

Filling:
1 - 8 oz Brick Cream Cheese
1 Cup Powdered Sugar


Streusel Topping:
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Flour
4 Tbsp Cold Butter, cubed
1 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon

Prepare the filling first by combining the cream cheese and powdered sugar - whip until smooth.  Form into a log on plastic wrap or wax paper - make sure the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan.  Wrap the log up tightly and freeze until slightly hardened - 1 to 2 hours.

For the muffins: combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl.  Mix well and set aside.  In a separate large bowl combine the eggs, vegetable oil, sugar, and pumpkin - mix until well combined.  Add in the dry ingredients - mix until just combined.

For the streusel topping: combine all the ingredients in a small bowl, mix together with a pastry blender or two forks until crumbly.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two muffin pans with paper liners.  To assemble muffins, fill each muffin well 1/3 full with batter.  Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 24 equal slices.  Place a slice on top of the batter in each muffin well and gently press just slightly into the batter (not to the bottom).  Divide the remaining muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups on top of the cream cheese.  Sprinkle the struesel topping over the top of the batter.  Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the top of the muffin comes out with moist crumbs.  Let cool completely on wire rack before serving.

**I don't have two muffin tins and I didn't feel like doing two batches, so I poured the rest of the batter into my small loaf pans.  I had to bake about 20 minutes longer, but they worked out perfect!  You could easily put this recipe into a bundt pan (you wouldn't need the struesel topping) and just bake a little longer.  So this batch yielded 12 muffins and 4 mini loaves.  :)

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

I'm a lover of pretty much anything that involves cinnamon, then throw in a "cake" that I can justify eating for breakfast and I'm pretty darn excited!

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

Streusel Topping:
1 1/4 Cups Granulated Sugar
1/4 Tsp Sale (if you use unsalted butter)
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
6 Tbsp Butter, melted

Filling:
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Cocoa Powder

Cake:
3/4 Cup Butter
1 Tsp Salt (1 1/4 Tsp if using unsalted butter)
1 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
2 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
2 Tsp Vanilla
3 Large Eggs
3/4 Cup Sour Cream or Plain Yogurt
1 1/4 Cups Milk
3 3/4 Cups Flour

Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease 9"x13" pan or two 9" round cake pans.

Make the topping by whisking together the sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon.  Add the melted butter, stirring until well combined.  Set topping aside.

Make the filling by mixing together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder.  (Note: the cocoa powder is used strictly for color, not flavor, leave it out if you like.)  Set aside.

For the cake: in a large bowl, beat together the butter, salt, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream/yogurt and milk till well combined (the lumps do not need to be whisked out).  Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk/sour cream mixture, beating gently to combine.

Pour/spread half the batter into the prepared pan, spreading all the way to the edges.  Sprinkle the filing evenly atop the batter.  Spread the remaining batter atop the filing.  Use a table knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter (like making a marble cake - don't get too carried away).  Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan.

Bake the cake until it's a dark golden brown around the edges and a toothpick/cake tester in the center comes out clean.  When the center is pressed it should spring back.  Approximately 55-60 minutes for a 9"x13" and 50-55 minutes for the 9" round pans.

Allow to cool 20 minutes after removing from oven before serving.

"More Than Ordinary" Banana Bread

This is my "go-to" banana bread recipe.  When I look at my counter and see overly ripe banana's - I either make these bars or a batch of this bread.  I use my own canned applesauce to lessen the calories (which is why my bread is a bit darker), but if you don't have applesauce on hand, use equal parts oil.  If you don't wish to have coconut flecks in your bread, banana instant pudding works well (or really whatever you happen to have in the cupboard for instant pudding). Recipe yields 2 large loaves.

Enjoy!

Banana Bread

5 Eggs

1 1/2 Cups Applesauce

1 1/2 Cups Sugar

2 Cups Mashed Bananas (approximately 4-5 bananas)

1 Tsp Vanilla

1 Tsp Salt

1 Heaping Tsp Baking Soda
1 Heaping Tsp Cinnamon
2 1/2 Cups Flour
1 Pkg Instant Coconut Puddin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix eggs, applesauce, sugar, bananas, and vanilla together until blended.  Add dry ingredients until moistened, then beat for a couple minutes until well combined - batter will remain a little lumpy.  Pour into prepared (greased and floured) bread pans and bake for 45-60 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Mini-Donuts

These little beauties are soooo EASY to make! They remind me of the mini donuts you get at the fair - all hot and wonderful, but much cheaper!


All you need for these is a can of biscuits - I used the little can (not the grands) for a smaller donut...

• Pull the biscuits apart
• Poke a hole in the center of each biscuit (I use the end of a wooden spoon) - stretch it out a little bit, otherwise it'll "grow" shut during frying. If you use the bigger biscuits you can use a bottle cap to cut the center out.
• Fry in about 1/4" or more of HOT oil (I use canola or a canola/vegetable blend) in a frying pan - flip over when slightly browned and brown other side.
• Remove from oil and let stand on paper towel to absorb any excess oil

Now the fun part...I put mine in a paper bag with cinnamon and sugar, shook them all around and got the yummy result above. You can also shake them in a bag with powdered sugar or make an easy glaze with powdered sugar and milk.

Enjoy!

Caramel Pull-Aparts

I know it's been awhile since I've posted, but I promise when I make you wait, I'll make it worth your while!! :)  These rolls are a FAVORITE - incredible for a family breakfast, brunch, church bazaar...I've literally shared these (and the recipe) at all sorts of events!  Best of all, they're incredibly easy to put together!

Enjoy!!

Caramel Pull-Aparts

2 Loaves Frozen Bread Dough (thawed, not risen)
1/2 Cup Melted Butter
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2  Tsp Cinnamon
2 Small Packages Cook & Serve Vanilla Pudding Mix (NOT instant)
3 Tbsp Milk

Take loaves of dough and cut into small pieces (I use a clean scissors) and place in greased 9"x13" pan.  Mix melted butter, brown sugar, pudding mix, cinnamon, and milk together well and pour over top of bread dough.  Let raise 2 1/2-3 hours (or overnight in the refrigerator).  If making ahead the night before, pull out of fridge 30-60 minutes before needing to bake.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  Cool at least 5-10 minutes, then flip on cookie sheet lined with foil (foil is for easy clean-up).  "Pull-apart" and enjoy!

Tip:  Frozen Dinner Roll dough can also be used - 24 rolls equals 2 loaves and I usually cut each roll into 4-6 pieces.  I like them because they thaw enough to cut in a shorter period of time if I'm making these on the fly.

Buttermilk Banana Bread

This bread is definitely lighter (in color and consistency) than your regular everyday banana bread recipe.  I love the buttery/crispy crust on it!

You're going to hear me mention MKC (My Kitchen Cafe) a lot over here - in fact, it has its own tag for quick reference.  ALL of the recipes I have ever tried from there have been incredible and this recipe definitely lives up to the reputation!  :)

Enjoy!

Buttermilk Banana Bread

1/2 Cup Butter, softened

1 1/2 Cups Sugar

2 Eggs, well beaten

1 Cup Mashed Bananas (about 3 bananas)

4 Tbsp Buttermilk

1 3/4 Cups Flour

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp Salt

1/2 Tsp Vanilla

Dash Baking Soda

Cream butter and sugar - add eggs, bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla.  In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients.  Add dry ingredients to banana mixture - mix until combined.  Divide batter into greased and floured pans.  Bake in 350 degree oven for approximately 50-55 minutes OR until toothpick comes out clean.

Yields: One large loaf pan of bread