Cinnamon Ripple Banana Bread

The other day, I was looking through my enormous recipe notebook–you know, the notebook full of “things to try.” The idea was to find something that just screamed Easter. Well, I found plenty and the only real trouble I ended up with was picking which adorable Eastery thing to make.

Then, without realizing what I was actually doing– I found myself completely and utterly fixated on this particular recipe. I don’t personally believe there is anything about Cinnamon Ripple Banana Bread that even whispers Easter…nevermind screaming it. But there it was in the mixer and I continued on like a woman possessed.

I intended to take some charming photos of the loaf out of the pan, intact and cooling on a pretty little rack, maybe with a few carefully placed cinnamon sticks. Alas,  once it was out of the oven– the bread knife had a mind of it’s own as well. Then, somebody started nibbling and before I knew it…there were only a couple of slices left.

Not. My. Fault.

Cinnamon Ripple Banana Bread

Ingredients:

3 very ripe bananas–thoroughly mashed

1/3 cup softened butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1-1/2 cups flour

For the Ripple:

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tbsp cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a large loaf pan evenly. Shake about a tablespoon of the  cinnamon sugar mixture into the buttered pan…

and tip the pan around until all the sides and the bottom are well coated.

Pour the excess back in with the mixture set aside for the ripple.

Mix bananas, butter , sugar, egg, vanilla, soda, cinnamon and salt together. Pour about one half of mixture in loaf pan. Sprinkle most of the cinnamon/sugar mixture over the top.

Add the rest of the bread batter over the cinnamon layer. Sprinkle the rest of the mixture on the top. Bake for about 60 minutes or until a knife poked in the middle comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely before cutting.

Serve with cream cheese or by itself. Either way is fine by me. It’s wonderful, and if you can force yourself to save a piece till tomorrow, it is even somehow miraculously…

better. Yeah, didn’t see that coming either. Oh, and as for the Easter recipe…

there’s always next week.

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