What's Baking: Pecan Streusel Banana Bread

More bananas in the freezer = more banana bread (and an excuse to not have to pack the Kitchenaid mixer just quite yet). For this recipe I melded together the recipe from last week (with a slight tweak to the spices) and the pumpkin streusel bread recipe I made a few weeks ago. Is there anything better than the aroma of banana bread baking in the oven? It makes the house smell so good. Perhaps the only thing better is actually eating the bread -- yum.

Pecan Streusel Banana Bread (printer-friendly version)

makes one large loaf

1/2 cup unsalted organic butter

1/2 cup raw sugar

2 farm eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/3 cup chopped pecans

4 uber-ripe bananas, mashed

For the streusel topping:

2 tablespoons flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease (use cooking spray or rub with butter) one large or one medium and one small loaf pan.

3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.

4. Sift together the dry ingredients (I just put them all in a bowl together and mix with a fork; sifting is overrated!)

5. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and mashed banana to the butter-sugar-egg-vanilla mixture.

6. Stir in the chopped pecans by hand.

7. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan.

8. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. After ten minutes, remove from the oven and spoon the streusel topping evenly over the top of the bread.

9. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the bread center comes out clean.

10. Remove the bread from the oven and place pan on wire rack. Allow bread to cool in pan for 10 minutes.

11. After 10 minutes, remove the bread from the pan and allow to cool completely on the wire rack.

What's Baking: Pumpkin Streusel Bread

With Halloween right around the corner, 'tis the season for pumpkin bread! I followed a new recipe for this bread, which has a pecan streusel topping. The next time I make this recipe, I think I will at least double the streusel amount, as most of the streusel was absorbed by the bread during cooking. Since I had homemade apple butter on hand, I opted to use it as a substitution of the oil called for in the recipe. If you do not have any apple butter (or applesauce) to use as a substitute, you can use vegetable oil.

Pumpkin Streusel Bread (printer-friendly version)

For the topping:

1/4 cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/4 teaspoon  ground cinnamon

For the bread:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup raw sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup canned organic pumpkin

1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup homemade apple butter (or substitute vegetable oil)

2 large eggs

cooking spray

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

3. In a small bowl, combine the chopped pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter pieces. Use a pastry blender or fork to form the topping into small crumbles. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Use a whisk to stir the ingredients together. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

5. In a medium bowl, stir together the pumpkin, yogurt, honey, apple butter (or oil), and eggs.

6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.

7. Spray a 9" x 5" bread pan with cooking spray. Spoon the batter into the pan.

8. Carefully spread the streusel topping evenly over the batter.

9. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

10. Remove from the oven and let cool in the bread pan for 10 minutes.

11. Remove the bread from the pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

(adapted from this Cooking Light recipe)