The Best Banana Bread You Will Ever Taste (Brown Sugar Banana Bread)

Well, it's Christmas the first Sunday of the NFL season. Sitting on the couch all day with my husband watching the Red Zone is absolutely thrilling..too thrilling...so I decided to break it up with a little bit of banana bread. That, and the fact that I was tired of the tiny swarm of fruit flies that took residence in my kitchen, due to the state of my non-edible bananas (yup...nearly black). Good as any reason to bake out some bread right?!

I did a little bit of Pinteresting, and found this worthy looking recipe at Cookies and Cups. Yum.

This recipe is not only delicious...its flawless. Its the perfect combination of rich deliciousness, with yummy saltiness. My husband loved it...that should tell you everything you need to know about this delicacy

I did a few revisions, mainly because I didn't have the exact ingredients, or I thought something would sound better. 

• I used dark brown sugar, rather than light. I LOVE dark brown sugar, and I use it whenever a recipe calls for brown sugar. Everything always turns out delightful, so hopefully I'm not committing a huge baking no-no by doing that. 
• I substituted 2% milk in the glaze, rather than the heavy cream. I try not to use heavy cream in anything...its delicious...but fatty. The glaze turned out rather tasty w/o it. 
• I also used sour cream, rather than the Greek yogurt, mainly because I like how store bought cake mixes turn out when I add sour cream to them. 

What You'll Need

2 cups all purpose flour (I used whole wheat)

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 3 medium bananas)

1/4 cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt)

2 eggs

6 Tbsp salted butter, melted

2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

2 Tbsp heavy cream (I used 2% milk)

1 Tbsp honey

2 1/2 Tbsp butter

Directions 

Dial up your oven to 350 degrees. (My oven runs hot, so I did 325)

Lube up your 9x5 loaf pan with Pam Spray, or olive oil (my choice). 

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, mix together mashed banana, sour cream, eggs, melted butter and vanilla.

Mix wet and dry ingredients until "just combined."

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. <--A quick note...I have a really bad habit of using a metal knife in place of a toothpick. I don't know why...but its a bad idea because your knife will never come out clean until your cake is baked into a brick...use a toothpick...my friends.

Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Run knife around the edges of pan to release any parts that might be sticking and then remove from pan, transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Glaze

In small sauce pan, combine all ingredients, heat over medium until mixture reaches a full boil. Boil for 2 minutes and then remove from heat.

Let mixture cool for 5-10 minutes and then pour over banana bread. Glaze will set up and then cut into slices.

Original Recipe from Cookies & Cups.