Cream Cheese Banana Bread
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 60 minutes
Yield:
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole white wheat flour (or use all-purpose flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 overripe bananas (lots of brown spots – black’s okay, too!), sliced into 3” pieces
4 oz cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 small normally ripe banana, thinly sliced into rounds
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ loaf pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the first five ingredients, set aside.
3. Place the overripe banana slices in a microwaveable bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Cut a vent hole in the wrap, and microwave on High for 4 minutes.
4. Pour heated bananas — they should be nice and mushy — into a strainer placed over a small sauce pan. Let drain for 10 minutes. Press bananas with the back of a spoon to release as much liquid as possible and then move to a medium mixing bowl. Allow to cool slightly.
5. Heat the banana liquid to a good simmer over medium-high heat. Let banana liquid reduce to about 1/4 cup. This should only take a few minutes.
6. Meanwhile, mix together bananas, beaten eggs, cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the banana liquid when it’s ready. Whisk well to combine. The mixture will be thick and slightly lumpy.
7. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture and combine, leaving a few flour streaks visible (you don’t want to over mix the batter — the remaining flour will be readily absorbed).
8. Pour into prepared pan and level. Top with the slices of normal ripe banana as decoration, avoiding the center of the loaf (the weight of the slices might interfere with the rise). Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes. Turn out onto cooling rack to complete cooling. Bread will be easier to slice when room temperature. If you can wait that long.