I have had a slew of kitchen fails lately. Three nights of bad recipes in a row followed by one giant wrist burn from a roasting pan that I even had the dermatologist take a look at. I was feeling a bit let down with my skills, especially living with the Chap who is a fantastic chef. That is…until I made this banana bread. I wasn’t even excited about baking after a recent pizzelle misadventure, but the rotting fruit demanded I at least try.

Finally, some amazing results! And a recipe that I’d put together from a few I’d read.  Thank me in advance. This was AMAZING.

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

For the Bread:

• 4 over ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup of melted butter
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1 egg
• 1.5 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1.5 cup flour
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

For the Swirl

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 T cinnamon

For the Topping

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 T unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
•  Dash of salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour bread pan.
2. Mash bananas with mixer. Add butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla.
3. Add baking soda, salt, and flour. Don’t even think about over mixing.
4. In a sidecar dish mix swirl ingredients.
5. Pour half of batter into loaf pan. Sprinkle swirl mixture on top. Pour other half of batter on top.
6. Mix together all topping ingredients with spoon or hands until crumbly.
7. Top bread batter with topping, gently push into batter.
8. Bake about 50 minutes until set.
9. Devour. Your house smells as amazing as it tastes. You’re welcome.