My favorite banana bread, stuffed with sweet apple and cinnamon, finished off with a butter streusel topping and smooth vanilla glaze.
The banana bread is ultra flavorful and the juicy apples make it super moist. My favorite part is the smooth vanilla glaze slathered all over the top of the bread. It sets into a perfectly candy crackled shell like topping.
I use this as a base for some of my favorite breads, like my:
The recipe is so versatile, you can add any kind of additions you want, like chopped nuts, fruits, glazes, icings, espresso powder, streusels or peanut butter.
Or make it plain, for the best banana bread ever.
The few ingredients that really take this recipe from a classic, to THE BEST ever, is the added sour cream to make it extra moist and tender, super ripe bananas, and the extra step of browning the butter to add a toffee-like, nutty flavor that adds a whole new dimension to the bread.
When your recipe calls for mashed banana, the riper the better! The ripeness of your bananas will determine how naturally sweet your bread turns out, so make sure your bananas are extra ripe, and I mean R-I-P-E! Think, covered in brown spots, too ripe to eat, about to throw it away, ripe. That means the banana is at the peak of sweetness, the riper the better! This will ensure the banana is ultra sweet, soft, and packed with a more intense banana flavor, than a regular yellow banana, making them perfect for your bread.
The batter comes together in one bowl and comes out nice and thick and speckled with fresh ripe banana, sweet apple and streusel topping.
It takes a while to bake, about 60-90 minutes, because it is so moist, thick and packed with ripe fruit. But once you start smelling that warm bread baking in the oven, you know it is almost ready, and that golden brown loaf will totally be worth the wait!
Then comes that glaze, which comes together with just a stir.
Once the bread has cooled, drizzle away!
Slice it up and enjoy. Or freeze the loaf for another time. Even bake it up in mini loaf pans to give away as gift or to enjoy one now and freeze the other for another time.
Apple Streusel Banana Bread
Yield: 9x5-inch loaf
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick/4oz.) butter, melted (browned for maximum flavor); may use oil if needed
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/3 cup mashed ripe banana (about 3 medium/large overly ripe bananas)
- 1/4 cup (60g) sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup (210g) all-purpose flour, weighed or spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup peeled and chopped green apple (1 small apple)
Streusel:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
Glaze:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
Directions
Ripen bananas at 300° F for 20-40 minutes, if not overly ripe (see instructions here).
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line the bottom of a 9x5 loaf pan (or 2 mini 5" loaf pans) with parchment paper or foil and spray with non-stick spray.
With an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating about 20 seconds after each addition. Add banana, sour cream and vanilla, and beat for about 30 seconds.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, beat in half of the flour mixture, about 20 seconds. Beat in remaining flour mixture, until just incorporated. Fold in apple pieces. Pour batter into prepared pan.
For the streusel topping, in a small bowl, mix together sugar, cinnamon, salt and melted butter. Stir in flour until thick and crumbly. Sprinkle topping over bread. Bake about 60-90 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (30 for mini 5-inch pans). Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the glaze, whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Drizzle over the top of the bread. Let dry before cutting. Store at room temperature, in an air tight container, up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
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