Banana Bread

I have been wanting make banana bread for a couple of weeks. Just something I was craving, I guess.

But in Thailand we tasted Laura's banana bread muffins and I knew I couldn't use my regular recipe again. So I hit Pinterest to find some recipes I'd pinned.

Meet our supper a couple of nights ago -

Reese's Peanut Butter Banana Bread

(found here)

and 

Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread

(found here)
I expected everyone, including myself to like the Reese's best. But we were all surprised to find that absolute favorite was the cream cheese. It was soft and not as dry and tasted like heaven. They are both do-overs so we look forward to tweaking the recipes and enjoyed a lot more of them. You are welcome to go to Pinterst, but I'll include the recipes here in case you don't.

Reese's Peanut Butter Banana Bread

• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 oz bag of Reese’s Mini cups

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Grease your loaf pan (I used an 8 x 4 pan) with butter or shortening.
3. In a medium bowl whisk together your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside.
4. In a large bowl stir together your bananas, peanut butter, oil, egg and sugars.
5. Pour your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and stir until just combined. 
6. Batter will be lumpy.
7. Fold in your Reese’s Mini cups and spread batter into prepared pan.
8. Bake for approx 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
9. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then loosen the edges of the pan with a knife and remove from loaf pan, transferring bread to a cooling rack.

 Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup butter, softened 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 2 cups granulated sugar 2 large eggs 1 & 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas) 1 cup chopped pecans, toasted 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour two 8″x 4″ loaf pans. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and cream cheese until creamy. Gradually add sugar, mixing until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing just until blended. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Stir in bananas, pecans, and vanilla extract. Divide batter evenly and spoon into prepared loaf pans. Topping 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon melted butter  1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over batter in both loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. If necessary, cover pans loosely with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes to prevent excess browning. Cool bread in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.