Banana Foster Banana Bread

Oh my... so I was looking through some blogs the other day and found this bread here at the Brown Eyed Baker. I'm pretty sure this was meant to be. I made it that same day. Not only have I been on a bananas foster kick recently, I've been wondering what to do with the 3 BLACK bananas that are chillin' in my freezer. This bread is entered in the Best Banana Bread Challenge. Check it out here at mixingbowl.com if you want.

The bread part of this recipe is a pretty standard recipe for banana bread. I did make a couple substitutions of my own - swapping half the oil for unsweetened applesauce and adding a teaspoon of cinnamon. When I make it again, I may try swapping in my go-to banana bread recipe as I like my banana bread a little more moist than this one turned out.

Enough about the bread. It's the topping that really made this recipe. The only change that I made here was to omit the walnuts in the streusel. I like nuts, just not in my desserts. The glaze topping is nothing but rum-caramal gooey goodness! I did make the mistake of not using a large enough skewer to poke holes in the bread. Next time I'll use something larger in diameter so that the glaze can soak down further into the loaf. My coworkers must have agreed that this was good because the only reminants of the loaf after work were a few loose streusel crumbs =-)


Banana Foster Banana Bread
For the bread:
2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil (I used 1/4 c. canola oil, 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce)
2 eggs
3 medium bananas, mashed
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. cinnamon

For the streusel:
1-1/2 c. chopped walnuts (omitted)
1/3 c. all purpose flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 Tbsp. butter, cold

For the rum glaze:
1/4 c. butter
2 Tbsp. water
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. rum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine ingredients for streusel topping in a small bowl and mix with fingers until crumbly. Set aside

Whisk the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together in a separate bowl. Set aside.

Beat the sugar, vegetable oil, and applesauce together. Add the eggs; one at a time, beating after each until combined. Add the mashed bananas and vanilla extract; mix to combine. Alternatively add flour and milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Stir until just combined.

Spread into a prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the batter. Bake until a knife inserted near the middle comes out nearly clean, about 60 minutes.

To make rum glaze, combine butter, water, and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minuts. Stir in rum and cook 1-2 minutes more. Set aside and cover to keep warm. Cool the loaf for 5 mintues on a wire rack. Poke holes throughout cake with a skewer. Spoon about 1/4 c. of the glaze over the loaf. Let the loaf sit for about 5 mintues and then repeat until glaze is all absorbed into the bread.