This Cream Cheese Filled Banana Bread is a step up from the traditional version. With a cheesecake like filling it will become a new favorite.
Banana bread is kind of a staple for breakfast meetings, but I had promised to bring something really great for a video conference some of my colleagues and I were attending in our office.
When I told them I had brought banana bread, the comment was, “I thought you were bringing something special”. Well after one look at the cream cheese filled banana bread, they changed their tune and there were no further complaints.
This version is extra moist from both the ripe bananas and cream cheese, and it looks amazing once cut. I experimented with this when my girls were home. The first attempt was good but we kept working on it , adding browned butter to the batter and pecans to the top until we finally got it just right. If you’re not a fan of nuts, it’s still delicious without them but pecans on top give it a nice crunch.
This stayed moist for at least two days which was as long as it lasted in our house. I froze the second loaf and took it out of the freezer the night before the morning meeting. It was a great diversion for our conference! This is great to serve for company or to take to a brunch. While it’s rich, it’s not sweet like dessert.
Pro Tip: For the best banana bread, use over ripe bananas. If yours aren’t over ripe, learn how to ripen bananas in the oven.
How do you make the BEST banana bread recipe
Step 1: Brown the butter first and while it’s cooling get the rest of your ingredients prepared.
Step 2: Mash about 2 bananas, you need 1 cup. Add it to a bowl with eggs, sugar, browned butter, yogurt and vanilla.
Step 3: In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients and fold it into the banana mixture.
Step 4: Mix together an egg, cream cheese, sugar, a little flour and vanilla.
Step 5: Pour about ⅔’s of the batter into a loaf pan and top with cream cheese mixture.
Step 6: Add the remaining batter to the top and sprinkle with pecans.
Step 7: Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden and the center is set.
Be prepared for a moist banana nut bread like none you’ve tried before.
The best way to ripen bananas is to let them ripen naturally. You can speed it up a little by putting them in a brown paper bag. If you want ripened bananas right away, you can bake them in the oven. Place them in a rimmed baking sheet peel and all and bake on 300º for about 15-20 minutes until the peels are almost completely black. Remove and when cool enough to handle remove from the peels. While the flavor will not be quite as good as if they’ve ripened naturally, it’s pretty close.
You can definitely freeze banana bread, either the whole loaf or you can slice it and freeze the slices individually or separated by parchment paper. It will stay fresh in the freezer for about three months.
More breakfast meeting ideas
- This streusel coffee cake is great if you have a large group
- Everyone loves blueberry muffins
- Impress your friends with a blueberry peach bundt coffee cake
- Try a batch of my favorite cinnamon rolls, frosting is optional
- Scones are always a good bet
- For the WOW factor try a berry braid
Weekend breakfast ideas
- Sheet pan pancakes
- Creme brulee French toast
- Fluffy waffles
- Peach streusel coffee cake
- Banana bread pancakes
- Baked apple pancake
Cream Cheese Filled Banana Bread
Ingredients
BREAD
- 1 egg
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup butter browned
- ¼ cup greek vanilla yogurt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup ripe banana mashed about 2 bananas
- 1 cup flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt
- ½ cup pecans chopped
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
- 1 egg
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º. Spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
- In a small saucepan over medium high heat, cook the butter. Remove as soon as it starts to turn brown and pour into a glass bowl to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, add egg, sugars, browned butter, yogurt and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the bananas and combine.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, soda and salt and fold into banana mixture until just combined, do not over mix.
- In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese filling ingredients and beat with a hand mixer until smooth.
- Pour two-thirds of the banana batter into the prepared pan. Add cream cheese filling to the top spreading evenly. Top with remaining batter, smoothing the top. Add pecans to the top.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and is set when jiggled. A toothpick will come out wet because of the cream cheese filling so is not a reliable indicator of when it is done.
- Let cool for about 15 minutes and then remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack.
Barbara’s Tips + Notes
Tips
- Use ripe bananas, the peelings should have black spots on them.
- Don’t over mix the batter.
- It will be done when the center is set. A toothpick could come out wet from the cream cheese filling and you might over cook it so jiggle it and take it out when the center is set.
- You can substitute sour cream for yogurt.
- You can use melted butter instead of browned butter.
Nutrition
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