Cream Cheese Banana Bread

Cream cheese. I love it. It makes so many dishes better. Once again, I found we had some bananas on the verge of turning bad. Then I remembered a great recipe from Southern Living that combines bread, bananas, and cream cheese. The recipe seemed pretty simple, so why not give it a shot?

These bananas are ripe and ready for my bread.

Ingredients

1/2 c butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 c sugar (I used baker's sugar)

2 large eggs

3 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 c chopped pecans (optional)

And we're off! Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each one.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl; gradually add to batter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in bananas, vanilla, and pecans. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8x4 loaf pans.

And...here is why my blog is named "Foods I attempt to cook". I realized I had skipped flouring the loaf pans after I had already spooned it up. I guess we will see if that step is truly necessary.

I didn't add pecans because I didn't have any on hand, I hate going to the store more than almost anything, and my son doesn't like nuts of any kind. So I skipped it, but pecans or walnuts would probably be yummy. Maybe next time.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour. The sides will start to pull away and a toothpick or knife should come out clean. The recipe said to shield the bread with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes to prevent browning if necessary. I didn't do this, but mine seems fine. Cool bread in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool 30 minutes on wire rack before slicing. Or don't. We made it almost 5 minutes before digging in.

Oh, cream cheese banana bread, I love you so! Delicious. As it turns out, skipping the floured pan made no difference. The bread popped right out. Good stuff. This one is a keeper.

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