Swirly Roasted Banana Bread

Lordy, lordy, lordy.  No, literally.  Lordy.  Easter is just around the bend and I can't.  Even.  Believe.  It.  I'd like a tally of how many times I've said 'Where has my life gone?', because it's been a lot.  And I'm saying it again.  Where the crap has my life gone?!  I feel like Christmas just passed, yet we're already 1/3 of the way through 2012!  Geezzzzzzz.

But I guess I can't complain that life has kept me busy.  I should probably be jumping for joy that I have things that keep life exciting and that I have things to look forward to.  There...that's better ☺

Anywho, back to Easter.  What do you guys have planned for the holiday weekend?  I'm sure most of you are on top of planning the Easter meal, desserts, and goodies for visitors, more than I am.  It obviously just registered with me that Easter is in a few short days.  But for those of you in your own world [like me!], I have here a Swirly Roasted Banana Bread that's an absolutely perfect treat to have around the house over the holiday weekend.  Snack here, snack there, and then...it's gone.  But your family, relatives, friends [or whoever you may have over at your house] will surely thank you for your efforts.  Believe me.  Hallelujah!

Hollyann approved!

I was inspired to make this bread from a post over at Arctic Garden Studio.  Take a quick peak at their own version of this recipe and you'll understand why.  And how can roasted bananas and cream cheese swirls not peak a girls interest?  Well let me tell you, it does.  OH!  Annnnd brown butter.  How could I forget?!

So what I did was take the banana bread recipe from my Banana Struesel Bread [minus the caramel bits...sad, I know], roasted the bananas, browned that butter, and added in the lovely stripe of cream cheese filling.  Oh, hey.  Yumminess!

The only thing I can say about this recipe that I would possibly change next time around is the sugar amount.  Dumbly enough, I didn't account for the lack of sweetness from taking out the caramel bits in the original recipe.  However, the cream cheese filling definitely made up for it and honestly, I think makes the bread, but let it be known that this is not an overly sweet goodie.  Perfect for breakfast, in my opinion, but I know that some people may like sweeter banana breads.  Cha know?!  Also, not quite sure the roasted banana really made that much of a difference?  But roasting them was fun!  So still do it.

Regardless, this bread is moist, full of banana flavor, and has a beautiful layer of sweet cream cheese swirling through the center.  And as most banana breads go, it gets better with age.  Much, much better.  Not that it will last that long though, right?  .

Slightly adapted from Arctic Garden Studio

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese Filling:

4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 c. sugar

1 large egg

2-1/4 tsp. all purpose flour

Banana Bread:

2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. light brown sugar

1-1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 large ripe bananas, roasted and mashed

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/3 c. flavored yogurt (plain, coffee, vanilla, or caramel flavored)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. For cream cheese filling, combine cream cheese, sugar, egg, and flour in a small bowl with a wooden spoon.  Mix until smooth.  Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. For banana bread, heat oven to 350°F and place rack in center of oven.  Butter or spray with non-stick cooking spray 9x5-inch loaf pan.  Set aside.
3. Place bananas onto baking sheet and bake 20 minutes or until black.  Let cool slightly before peeling skins and mashing.
4. While bananas are roasting, place butter into small saucepan over medium-high heat.  Gently swirl butter in pan (do not stir), watching closely as butter bubbles and begins to brown.  Remove from heat once butter is brown and nutty smelling.  Set aside until ready to use.
5. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.
6. In a medium bowl, combine bananas, eggs, butter, yogurt, and vanilla extract.  Lightly fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until combined and batter is thick and chunky (do not over mix).
7. Spread half of banana bread mixture onto bottom of prepared loaf pan.  Evenly spread the cream cheese filling on top, followed by the remaining banana bread batter.
8. Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until bread is golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Place on wire rack to cool before removing from pan.

Yield: 1 loaf