Cinnamon Crunch Banana Bread

*If you’re one of those people who act like reading more than 3 words before you get to the actual recipe is the WORSSST torture on this earth,  skip to the solid black line. That’s where information on the bread starts*

On this day two years ago is when quarantine really kicked off. Schools had shut down, offices were sending employees home, and people (like The Boy) were being laid off from their jobs. Our world as we knew it changed forever. 

Quarantine?? What? How does that even work? I never could have imagined this happening in my life. Who would have thought the whole world would be taking a collective time out. It was weird. The days were long yet short. I felt stressed yet also relaxed.  Time meant nothing and everything all at the same time.

What do you do? Take this time take to relax because you’ll never get this opportunity again?  Or be productive…because you’ll never get this opportunity again? 

For the first time ever there was….time! Even if you continued to work like I did your day had opened up. You didn’t have other places to be (you weren’t socializing) You weren’t rushing from one thing to the next, and you got to work from home. The extra time was great. 

With everyone at home and extra time on their hands came trends. Everyone and their brother was baking banana bread (like me), whipping up dalgona coffee (bought the instant coffee to do it and then never did. It’s still sitting in my pantry to this day ) and tie dying everything they could get their hands on (nope over here). 

I am commemorating the anniversary of this weird space in time by finally posting my banana bread recipe.

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 I couldn’t help but make my banana bread a wee tad more interesting by coating it in cinnamon sugar for some added crunch and  extra flavor. 

By all means if you’re not into the idea of the added butter and cinnamon sugar, you can skip it. This is still a solid banana bread recipe without it. But the added crunch of cinnamon and sugar takes me back to my childhood breakfasts of cinnamon toast. What’s not to love about that?

Cinnamon Crunch Banana Bread

Yields 2 9x5 loaves

Bread

4 Bananas, mashed 

4 Eggs, beaten

1 tb. Vanilla extract 

1 cup Shortening*

2 cups Brown sugar

3 1/2 cups Flour 

2 tsp. Baking soda 

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Cinnamon 

Coating

1 cup Granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1 stick Butter, melted 

*May sub with softened butter, but believe it or not I prefer it with shortening 

•In a mixer, cream your shortening and brown sugar until fluffy, stopping periodically to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  

•Stir in the mashed banana, beaten eggs, and vanilla until we’ll combined. 

•In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. 

•Add your dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients a little at time until fully incorporated. Do not over mix or beat at a high speed. Just stir enough to combine.

•Preheat oven to 300 and prepare two 9x5 loaf pans with nonstick spray or shortening. 

•Divide the batter into the two prepared loaf pans and bake at 300 for 1 1/2 hours or until the center is completely set and a toothpick comes out clean. Low and slow is the way to keep your bread from getting to dark and crispy before it is cooked all the way through. 

•Remove loaves from pans and cool on wire rack

*Optional Step* When the loaves are about 80% cooled, wrap in foil and let sit overnight. This helps the loaves stay extra moist. 

•Mix your cinnamon and granulated sugar together and transfer to a plate or container large enough for an entire loaf to fit into. 

•Brush your loaf with melted butter and roll and press it into the cinnamon sugar mixture, coating the top and sides of the loaf. 

•I like to give the sides of the loaf just one coating, but 2-3 coats of butter and sugar on the top of the bread. Do whatever you prefer! I like a thick, crunchy sugar crust on top.

I hope you enjoy this spin on a traditional banana bread. It’s simple but makes a big impact.