Cream Cheese Rippled Banana Bread - Recipe

   At home there's always someone craving for dessert so we have turned into amateur bakers for the sake of health and economy. One of those desserts that appear often in our fridge is this AWESOME banana bread. This bread has been our friend for more than a year and has suffered many changes in the way. The most noticeable would be the cream cheese ripple which the original recipe didn't have; it was added in our most recent batch of the recipe. Another change would be some of the methods. Since we don't have any mixing equipment, we use our arm power to shake, mix, fluff and smooth everything out. This yummy bread can be served hot, fresh out of the oven, warm or cold from the fridge. After this last step it would turn into a delicious bread pudding texture and it can be stored in the fridge or freezer in case you have leftovers.

 

Ingredients:

    Cream Cheese Filling
    -4 ounces (114g) of cream cheese at room temperature
    -1/4 cup granulated white sugar
    -1 large egg
    -2 1/4 teaspoons all purpose flour

    Banana Bread
    -1/2 cup butter
    -1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
    -3/4 cup white sugar
    -2 eggs, beaten'
    -1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    -1 cup all purpose flour
    -1 cup quick cooking oats
    -1 teaspoon baking soda
    -1/2 teaspoon salt
    -1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    -1 1/2 cup ripe mashed bananas
    -1/4 cup milk

    Cinnamon Sugar Garnish
    -1 tablespoon granulated white sugar mixed with 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
   

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (170 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Sprinkle the bottom and sides of the pan with some of the cinnamon sugar garnish. Set aside.
2. To prepare the cream cheese filling mix the cream cheese and the sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the egg, mixing until just incorporated. Stir in the flour. Set aside.
3. Cream together the butter and the sugar. Add applesauce, eggs and vanilla. Beat until fluffy.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oatmeal, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
5. Add the wet ingredients, the bananas and the milk to the flour mixture. Mix until blended.
6. Pour half the batter into the greased pan.
7. Add the cream cheese filling and smooth using the back of a spoon.
8. Add the rest of the batter and smooth it as before.
9. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar garnish on top of the batter.
10. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from oven and cover with a wet paper towel for 10 minutes.


Note: It's very important to not overprocess the cream cheese filling. If you do, it will liquefy and will be absorbed into the batter. This won't ruin your banana bread, but you won't see the cream cheese layer.

Enjoy! If you take any pictures I'd love to see!