For someone who’s not a huge fan of banana bread, I certainly bake enough of it. Follow me as I continue my quest for the best use of overly ripe fruit.
Yesterday I took a break from my endless fall yard work and attended a fundraiser for ovarian cancer awareness. I’m a woman. I have ovaries. I can support those whose ovaries have decided to go a little wonky.
Plus, it was at a Mexican restaurant and I love me the flour tortilla.
A tall margarita, one chicken burrito and a cup of green chili sauce later, my friends and I decided to run to the local Yankee Candle store just around the corner. Oh, the lure of the buy two/get two coupon… It was time to stock up on the Balsam and Cedar scent for the holidays. Can you believe it? Thanksgiving is less than three weeks away!
FYI, my new favorite flavor Berry Trifle put me in the mood for vanilla ice cream with mixed berries on top. It’s a miracle people don’t try to eat that wax right out of the jar.
With great personal restraint, I pointed the car in a different direction and avoided swinging into Costco for the double quart of French Vanilla ice cream – score one for me and my new elliptical. But as I threw my keys onto the kitchen counter, I heard a squishy thud as they skidded to a stop against a bunch of pre-zombie bananas. Ewwww. Those suckers were black.
Having sniffed my way through every baked-good scented candle known to man just 15 minutes earlier, I was primed and ready to bake. Hello, Internet, my old friend. Who has a banana bread recipe for me to try?
The Greatist.com does! Huzzah! Without any further ado, here’s my spin on their recipe:
Oatmeal Cranberry Banana Bread with Baked Almond Topping
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
For the topping:
- ½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon melted butter
- 2 tablespoon slivered or sliced almonds
For the bread:
- 4 ripe bananas
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1½ cup almond milk (can use regular milk)
- 2 cup flour
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup dried cranberries
For topping, combine all ingredients in a small bowl and set to the side
For the bread, mix bananas until mushy. Add eggs and almond milk. It will be very runny. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, oats, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir into banana mixture. Avoid over mixing. Batter should still be lumpy. Add in cranberries.
I used my KitchenAid stand mixer with the cookie scraping blade. It all came together beautifully.
Split batter into two lightly greased loaf pans. Sprinkle topping mix over each loaf. Press topping into the batter slightly.
Bake for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with some dry topping crumbs. And wait until the pumpkin pie spice starts wafting through the house! Let the drooling begin.
Cool, slice, slather with butter, enjoy!
On a side note, I doubled the original recipe because I had four bananas to work with. Technically I had five, but there was one banana that felt too scary to peel open without finding some sort of biology experiment inside.
Son #1 staggered in at 10pm after a double shift at work. He came into my room to tell me how good the house smelled. High praise indeed from a kid covered with bacon grease.
I blame Yankee Candle.
And my friends love it when I get all domestic. That’s why I make two loaves. Gotta share the banana love.
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