Peanut Butter Streusel-Topped Cream Cheese Banana-Nut Bread

Vino Girl's Note:

Whew! That is some title. The peanut butter topping on this is outstanding. My bananas were very sweet and ripe, so I was able to get away with less sugar in the batter (I used the full amount in the topping though). From Southern Living.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Yield: 2 loaves

BREAD

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium)
• 1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

STREUSEL TOPPING

• 1/2 cup flour, plus
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease and flour 2 8x4 inch loaf pans.
2. Make bread batter by beating butter and cream cheese at medium speed with electric mixer until creamy.
3. Add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beating until just blended.
4. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in another bowl. Gradually add this to butter mixture, stirring just until blended.
5. Stir in bananas, pecans, and vanilla. Pour batter into pans.
6. Make streusel by combining the flour and brown sugar in a small bowl. Cut in the butter and peanut butter with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles small peas.
7. Sprinkle the mixture over the batter, and bake for 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. If necessary, shield the top with foil for last 15 minutes to prevent browning.
8. Cool bread in pans for 10 minutes, remove from pan, and allow to cool on a wire rack for another 30 minutes.

Reviews

[Hazeleyes]

The streusel topping is so good. I used it on a low-fat banana bread that I always make. Thanks for a nice change to our regular recipe.

[Felix4067]

The batter tasted so good I couldn't wait for it to come out of the oven, but that was the last thing about this recipe that worked for me. The streusel never did behave like streusel, it was more like thick peanut butter frosting even after I added almost half again as much flour and brown sugar, so I spread it across the top of the batter as best I could. After baking, the streusel fell off when the bread was touched, and I had to sprinkle it over the slices after they were buttered to make it stay. Both the banana and the peanut butter tastes were almost nonexistent in the finished product. The only thing I did differently from recipe as written was to leave out the nuts, as I didn't have any. I like the idea of using cream cheese in the batter and will incorporate that into my standard banana bread recipe, but this one just didn't work for us, sorry. The texture was perfect, but the taste was definitely lacking.

[Vino p.o. prn]

This was very tasty and very moist but I think it should be called Banana Peanut Butter Crumb Cake instead. The consistency was a bit heavier than the bread that I was expecting but nevertheless it was very good. I decreased the butter to 1/2 cup for the batter. Thanks!