Easy Streusel Topped Banana Bread

Banana bread is one of our favorite sweets.  The majority of the time I have made it with a streusel topping which makes it even yummier!

The recipe that I have been using lately is from Taste of Home, one of my favorite recipe sites.

Ingredients

Banana Bread

• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (1 cup)
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk*
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The original recipes calls for an optional 1 cup of walnuts to be folded in after everything is mixed, but a few of my kids experience side effects from some nuts so I don't put them in.

Streusel Topping

The original recipe does not call for a streusel topping but we love it! Works well on other quick breads such as zucchini bread, coffee cakes, etc)

• ½ cup packed brown sugar

• ½ cup all-purpose flour

• ¼ cup quick-cooking oats

• ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) butter, room temperature

What to Do

1. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. 
2. In another bowl, combine the eggs, bananas, oil, buttermilk and vanilla; add to flour mixture, stirring just until combined. 
3. Mix up your streusel: Mix together brown sugar, flour, oats and butter until about pea-sized crumbles form. Set aside. (You can find the recipe for this again in my Streusel Topping for Quickbreads post)
4. Pour batter into a greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pan. 
5. Sprinkle streusel topping over the batter.
6. Bake at 325° for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. 

Yield: 1 loaf 

*Buttermilk 

I hardly ever ever buy buttermilk so I make a substitution by combining lemon juice (or white vinegar) with regular milk.

Here is the substitution I've been using:

For each cup of buttermilk, use 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice plus enough milk to measure 1 cup. Stir, then let stand for 5 minutes. (Source: Taste of Home)

Why use buttermilk?
I wondered the same thing so I googled and found out that the reason why buttermilk is great to use in cakes and baking is that it combines with the baking soda to produce bubble of carbon dioxide gas. These bubbles are what gives your cake more volume. In addition, I read that this acid interferes with gluten formation to help keep your cake tender and light (Why Use Buttermilk - LifeMadeSweet)

Easy Cornbread!

This is a super easy recipe and great if you like really sweet cornbread (if not, just decrease the sugar). I whipped some of this up the other day for our chili.

What You Need:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

What You Do

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray or lightly grease a 9 inch round cake pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. 

3. Stir in egg, milk and vegetable oil until well combined. 

4, Pour batter into prepared pan.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

That's it! 

Source: AllRecipes.com

Just for the record:  I didn't have milk on hand but we desperately needed something to go with the chili. So, being desperate, I used the half and half we had on hand, mixing 1/2 cup of half and half with 1/2 cup of water. Everybody raved about it. I would probably decrease the sugar a bit the next time, but the kids said this was the best cornbread I made ever!