I swear the bananas were whispering to me everyday, telling me that my window of opportunity for banana bread was closing in. Then they started to show the tell-tale signs that, yes indeed....time was almost up! So much so that they were not pretty enough to make it into the pictures here:) So banana bread it was this past Saturday afternoon. And as I was prepping I thought adding an apple might be a nice companion to the bananas so I chopped one up, dredged it in butter, cinnamon and sugar and into the batter it went. Deeeee-lish!
Do you realize that Thanksgiving is just a little over a month away? I was looking at the calendar today and the reality of it hit me and I will admit I had a moment of panic. Why you ask? Because I'm in charge of the pies this year and I really want to hit them out of the park! I'm going to do a traditional {with a twist} apple pie with a lattice work top and then I think I'll try my hand at a pecan pie. I had a dream the other night of my pecan pie having various sized leaves covering the top. Edible leaves that is. I have these leaf cookie cutters and thought I would either put them all across the top or maybe around the end of the pie. I haven't decided yet but I promise it's gonna be spectacular!
Meanwhile, enjoy this apple, banana bread with some warm butter slathered over it and a hot cup of coffee! That's my plan tomorrow morning:)
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 1 & ¼ cups brown sugar, divided
- 2 eggs
- 1 Medium apple - Diced
- 2 tbs butter - melted
- Cinnamon & Sugar to taste
- ⅓ cup Greek yogurt (I use banana flavor, but plain or vanilla would work)
- 2 cups mashed banana (about 3-4 small/medium bananas)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp cinnamon, divided
- Pinch nutmeg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Slivered almonds
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Either spray a 9" square baking pan with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper (i prefer parchment paper) and set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the butter and ¾ cup of the brown sugar until blended. Whisk in the eggs, yogurt, banana and vanilla until combined. Lastly, add 1 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, baking soda, salt and pudding mix, careful not to over mix. Your batter may be thick and clumpy, but that's okay. Over mixing will lead to tough bread!
- In a separate bowl mix your diced apples with 2 tbsp melted butter and enough Cinnamon and sugar to coat. Fold the apples into the banana bread batter.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining brown sugar and cinnamon with a spoon until combined. Liberally sprinkle the mixture on top of the banana bread, patting it down if necessary.Add slivered almonds to the top if you want.
- Bake the bread for 30 minutes, then tent the bread with foil (which helps prevent the crust from burning and top + sides from cooking too quickly) very loosely. Continue baking for an additional 30 minutes.
- Allow the bread to cool completely before cutting into slices
Enjoy!!!
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