Bananas Foster Bread Loaf

If your looking for a new twist for your banana bread this recipe is worth a try. The comments from the kitchen were “This takes banana bread to a whole new level”, “decadent but healthy” and many more. This recipe bring the wonderful creation of bananas foster into our common bread. The aroma from the bananas, rum, butter and sugar heated in the pan drive you to want to finish this fast and watch it like a kettle boiling. You just can’t wait to try it. The recipe is courtesy of Cooking Light who created this variation on traditional banana bread family recipes.

Now don’t get me wrong, a traditional recipe is great. The recipe I grew up with found here was a rich moist loaf that would be gone in seconds. We have explored other versions including a Cooking Illustrated version which was great as well. Chocolate chips found there way into our banana breads after one of my daughters came home with a slice from a friends house. Those are all great, but this truly is an adult bread that brings back the memories of your youth and also the flavors of your maturity.

The final glaze on the top brings some extra calories and a beautiful finish to the product. The rum and butter tip the flavor over the top where I had to fight back the tribe in the kitchen from stealing it out of the cup. I mean dark rum and butter, does it get any better than that! Thankfully the bread is so good the we did not find people stealing the top of the loaf and leaving the bottoms just like muffins. It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode on that.

The fine people at Cooking Light have made this deliciously good with some health benefits. I continue to find myself incorporating flax seed into my baking as this recipe requires and using yogurt as first introduced to me by Cooking Illustrated. Think about this one for your next brunch or breakfast meeting, your guests will not be disappointed.

Recipe

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
1 cup packed brown sugar, divided
6 tablespoons butter, melted and divided
1/4 cup Meyers dark rum or cognac, divided
1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt
2 large eggs
6.75 oz all-purpose flour (about 1-1/2 cups)
1/4 cup ground or milled flaxseed
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Cooking spray or butter
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 350°.

Combine bananas (about 3), 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 5 tablespoons butter, and 3 tablespoons rum in a nonstick skillet. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat and let cool. Place banana mixture in a large bowl. Add the yogurt (I used Greek yogurt), the remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, and two slightly beaten eggs. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until incorporated.

Weigh the flour into a 2 cup measuring cup or small bowl. Whisk the flour together with the next 5 ingredients (through allspice). Add flour mixture to banana mixture stirring in the mixer until just blended. Pour the batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray or butter. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan and place on wire rack to cool. Place wax paper under the wire rack.

Combine remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter, remaining 1 tablespoon rum, and powdered sugar; stir until well blended. Drizzle over the bread while it is still warm.

From Cooking Light October 2010

Yield 16 slices