Cinnamon Banana Bread

You only need kitchen staples to make this recipe, so if you can easily shop for the ingredients at your local grocery store if you don't already have them! You can find the full list of ingredients and measurements in the recipe card below. 

• Flour - I like to use all-purpose flour for my banana bread, but if you want to make it more wholesome, you can substitute half the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour
• Sugar - Granulated sugar is used in the bread and brown sugar in the swirl to make the swirl deeply flavorful. You can substitute half the granulated sugar with light or dark brown sugar
• Butter - For a lot of rich flavor I prefer to use something like butter instead of oil. If you want to add more depth to the butter, you can add in 2 more tablespoons and make brown butter for the batter. If you do not have butter, a neutral oil like vegetable oil will work, but you will need to reduce the amount to ½ cup.
• Bananas - Just like any classic banana bread, it is a great way to use up overripe bananas. You can also use frozen and thawed bananas. 
• Yogurt - To add tanginess plain yogurt works great in this recipe. You could also use buttermilk or sour cream

Sometimes, you have a craving for cinnamon swirl banana bread, but have no over-ripe bananas. Luckily, you can still use the bananas you have around or whatever the store has available. 

If you are at the store picking up ingredients for your cinnamon banana bread. go take a look at what I call the castaway bananas. Those are usually the pile of single bananas that lost their bunch. Usually, you will find some that are more ripe than the rest. They still aren't banana bread-worthy, but they're the best to work with. 

Next, apply heat. The heat helps bring out the sugars in the banana that make them so good when ripe and ready for bread. You can heat them in one of two ways:

• Peel the bananas and cut into slices. Place them in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for about 3 - 5 minutes. Mash them gently halfway through. Allow to cool, then finish mashing.
• Preheat the oven to 300F. Place the bananas (skin on) on a baking sheet and bake for 10 - 15 minutes, or until they are brown/nearly black. Allow to cool, peel, and mash.

The most important way to ensure you get the best results is to make sure you are correctly measuring your ingredients, particularly the all-purpose flour. You should fluff up the flour and then spoon it into your measuring cup then sweep of the excess. If you want to make sure you get consistent results, you can convert the recipe to metric and use a kitchen scale.

Use fresh ingredients, especially the baking soda because it plays an integral part in the rise and texture of this delicious loaf

It is important to use all room temperature ingredients because it helps everything to incorporate well together. You can quickly bring your eggs to room temperature by leaving them in very warm water for five minutes before cracking them. 

Try to use a loaf pan that is truly 9x5 as most loaf pans are slightly smaller at 4.5x8.5. While it may not initially seem like a big size difference, it can make it more difficult for the center of the loaf to fully bake in the center. 

Use a light - colored aluminium pan for the best heat conduction. Glass pans will take too long to heat up and leave you with a loaf that has a rubbery, dense bottom. Darker pans will brown your bread too quickly and may leave you with a burnt outside before the center is fully baked. 

Don't overmix the banana bread batter when adding in the dry ingredients! You want to mix just until there are no streaks of flour. Mixing too much can develop the gluten in the all-purpose flour which will leave you with tough, chewy bread.

If you want to make your quick bread even more special, you can sprinkle the top of the banana bread with more of the cinnamon-sugar mixture to punch up the cinnamon flavor or a sweet glaze using vanilla extract.