Monday, January 13, 2014

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread Recipe

I’ve been thanking my lucky stars lately that I don’t live in the Midwest anymore . . . it is downright balmy in Utah this winter compared to the recent temperatures back in Iowa where we used to live. My warm + cozy mountain west-dwelling heart goes out to those of you freezing your buns off in chillier parts of the country. I will never miss the feeling of my snot freezing inside of my nose when I’d step outside and take my first breath of Arctic Iowan winter air. Remember that scene from Day After Tomorrow when the helicopter goes down and the pilot opens the door and instantly freezes solid? That is exactly how I felt every winter day in Iowa, leaving my house to go to work. I tell you, there are some things I really miss about living in the Midwest . . . but the horrific winter weather will never be one of those things. Death first.

Anyway, I don’t know about you, but when it’s chilly outside, I just want to spend every day baking. Maybe it’s the extra warmth from the oven that makes it so tempting, or maybe the extra layer of fat it adds around my middle helps to keep me cozy warm in the chilly weather. . . whatever it is, I’ve been spending plenty of time in the kitchen lately. I wanted to use up some overripe bananas the other day, and baked up a loaf of deliciously moist and sweet Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread . . . oh dear. It was sinfully good.

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread Recipe

Banana bread is always such a tasty winter comfort food . . . but this loaf is a pumped-up version of the banana bread we all know and love. A thick, sweet, gooey layer of cinnamon sugar is hiding inside and adds an extra punch of flavor. I love the cinnamon and banana flavor combo—why haven’t I tried these two together before? And can you tell I’m working on my photography? Kind of pleased with myself for taking the time to get some decent pictures. And look how fancy I am—I even got some fabric out to make it look like I just happened to be having a nice indoor picnic with my loaf of bread and oh, just happened to take some photos of it. Totally natural, I always place my baked goods on a pristine, shiny plate atop a cheery tablecloth. Bloggers and blog photos = big fat lies.

Delicious! Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

If you have overripe bananas lying around, you’ve got to give this recipe a try. I don’t want to point any fingers, but a certain child in my house is always requesting bananas yet never finishes them, so I’ve always got a bag full of frozen leftover banana bits in the freezer. This was the perfect use for them—a quick zap in the microwave and they were ready to mash up and breadify.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe Card

Yum. Double yum. Triple yum with a side of yum. I think you’ll like this. And if you don’t? I dunno, I guess you can pack it up and send it to me. I’ll be happy to devour a second loaf, because the first one is already gone and I’m feeling a little sad about that.

Yummy Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread recipe

Recipe adapted from Sandwich Hoss.

9 comments:

  1. I hardly ever have any bananas make it to the ripe stage, I love them too much, but next time I will hide three, and try to forget about them ;). This does look triple yum!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you can always put (hide) them in the freezer then defrost them whenever u need them.

      Delete
  2. I'm with you. When it's chilly, I just want you to spend the day baking. Too bad you are no longer in Iowa or I coudl actually just come over and steal some of this yummy-ness. It looks awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My children are savages, I can come home with a safeway bag of bananas and not get a single overripe or undereaten one to make into banana bread. I may have to hide some because this is uh yum.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Geez, I should mail you some of mine. My freezer is full of nasty half-eaten bananas. Forrest asks for bananas constantly and rarely takes more than 2 bites.

      Delete
  4. Emma and I made this today and just enjoyed our first (of many) pieces together--oh my. This is possibly the BEST banana bread I have ever eaten! I seldom stray from my dear, sweet Grammy's delicious recipe, but this.. well, this was well worth straying for. I haven't even added the glaze yet, either! My hubby is currently doing Weight Watchers, and since this is so delectable as is, I might spare him the few extra calories and skip the glaze entirely. Or, I might just make a bowl for myself and sneak upstairs with my pieces tonight (yes, more than one) so that I can dip to my heart's delight. ;) Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad you like it! We all loved it, too. Glaze and all :-P

      Delete
  5. Found these on pinterest and had to give it a try. I made them into muffins since I didn't have a bread pan, and baked them only 20-25 mins instead and I didn't do the glaze because I'm too... g-lazy ;) But they were VERY sweet as is so I didn't feel I was missing out! They were AMAZING. My only complaint is that there isn't enough of it, they're going to be gone before the end of tomorrow!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad you liked them! They're definitely not lacking in sweetness, even without the glaze :-) Thanks for letting me know how they turned out as muffins--I had wondered how long of a bake time a muffin version would take.

      Delete

Thanks for commenting!