Banana Zucchini Bread

 

Soft. Tender. Crunchy. Sweet. CINNAMON (I love cinnamon). This bread has it all.

Plus, while it hangs out in the oven, your entire house will smell like warm, cinnamon sugar goodness- and who doesn’t want that in their house? (Important/not-so-important side note – my roommates were going crazy (and consequently driving me crazy – love ‘em, though) while this was baking, asking over and over agin if it was done yet… I can promise you though, the agonizing wait during the baking/cooling time is completely worth it.)

There are a few elements of any quick bread recipe I always look out for. First and foremost, though, does it actually live up to its name as a quick bread? As soon as I skim through and see softened butter as one of the ingredients listed, a little red flag springs up in my mind. That spark of concern and hesitation to proceed are typically justified by the time I get to the directions, which inevitably demand the use of a mixer to cream that butter with some sugar to form the base of the batter. Something about this step seems unnecessary and even contrary to a quick bread. Here’s my thinking when it comes to a recipe like this: prep time should be quick and easy and the process itself should be bare-bones simple in terms of the kitchen equipment needed- nothing more than a mixing bowl or two, a whisk, and a spatula required.

Prep time for this bread is pretty minimal and definitely will not require you to pull out a mixer – this is a mixing-bowls-and-spatula-only type of recipe. The most high-maintenance part of this recipe is the streusel. You may be tempted to skip this part altogether, but I really urge you not to. It only takes about 5 minutes to put together and it adds so much.

Half of the streusel is layered with the batter to create a sweet, cinnamon-spiced swirl, and the half that’s sprinkled on top gets all golden browned and crunchy after being baked. So please, promise me right now you’ll make the streusel and add to your overall enjoyment and bliss while eating this bread (preferably warm from the oven… yum).

I also pay special attention to whether the recipe uses oil or butter. Either (or a combination of both) are essential in batters like this to ensure your final product bakes up to be soft, moist, and tender. After a bit of experimenting to see which of these ingredients reigns supreme and consistently results in that ideal texture, I have to give it up to oil (sorry, butter – please know that I still love you).  Even though I use oil in this recipe, feel free to experiment by partially or fully substituting it with melted butter – mind you, I have yet to test this recipe with butter, but I’ve swapped out oil for melted butter in numerous muffin and quick bread recipes (and vise versa) with consistently successful results.

In summary, if you’re a fan of:

(1.) houses that smell like cinnamon-sugar,
(2.) recipes the require minimal prep time and kitchen equipment, and
(3.) quick breads that bake up to be what all other quick breads aspire to be,

then you should really make this banana zucchini bread. Like, now.

Banana Zucchini Bread
Makes 1 9×5-inch loaf

For the streusel:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

For the banana zucchini bread:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 very ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup plain or vanilla greek yogurt (or sour cream)
3 Tablespoons milk
1 cup grated zucchini

For the glaze:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon milk or water

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350º. Line a 9×5” loaf pan with parchment paper; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine all of the streusel ingredients together with your fingers (or a pastry blender) until the butter is throughly mixed in and the mixture is crumbly.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon; set aside.

In a larger bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until fairly smooth. To this, add the eggs, vanilla, oil, sugars, yogurt, and milk; whisk until well-combined. Stir in the zucchini; set aside.

To the mashed banana mixture, add the dry ingredients; using a rubber spatula, mix together just until combined.

Pour about half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread into an even layer. On top of this base layer, evenly sprinkle about half of the streusel you made earlier. Pour the remainder of the batter over this layer of streusel and, again, spread into an even layer. Sprinkle the rest of the streusel on the top of the unbaked bread.

Bake until no crumbs are attached on a knife or toothpick after being inserted into the bread, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let the bread sit in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack.

To make the glaze, mix together the powdered sugar and milk, adding more of either to achieve the desired consistency. Drizzle over the bread, and enjoy either warm or at room temperature.

Recipe adapted from www.peanutblossom.com, recipe for the streusel from Ina Garten.