Banana Bonanza

Let me just preface this by saying: I. love. banana. bread.  And not just bread.  I'll take muffins, cake, souffle, whatever.  I love it all.  Maybe it's because this is a dessert that is acceptable to eat for breakfast (at least for me it is).  I started making banana bread in college and have experimented with a TON of recipes.  I've always said that I'm a cook, not a baker.  I hate measuring things and figuring out ratios.  It makes me uncomfortable to think that if I accidentally add a little too much flour the whole recipe will be screwed up.  But lo and behold, I can't stop waiting for my bananas to get mushy enough to bake with.  This is a combination of 2 of my favorite recipes. 

You need:
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 very ripe bananas (the darker the better--like, black)
3/4 cup sugar
1 of those individual cinnamon applesauce cups (it's all I ever have, sorry)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup walnuts (optional)
1/4 chocolate chips (optional)

If you want a cinnamon crumble topping instead of chocolate chips then you'll need:
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp butter
(I've only done this with muffins)

Preheat oven to 375 for muffins, 325 for loaf.  Mix flours, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  Mash the bananas and beat the eggs (sounds violent).  Combine the eggs, bananas, sugar, egg, and butter.  Add this mixture into the flour mixture and stir until moist.  Throw in the nuts if you're using any.  Pour the batter into a lightly greased loaf pan or muffin tin. 

If you're making the crumble topping, mix the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.  Use a fork to mix in the butter until it looks "crumbly."  Spoon over the batter.  If you're using chocolate chips, skip this part and just sprinkle them on top.  I also put some in under the first layer of batter.

Bake 20 minutes for muffins and 60 minutes for a loaf. 

Here is the finished product

I made bread this past time so I don't have a picture of the cinnamon crumble muffins.  Just trust me, they're phenomenal. 

 OK--I know it seems like a lot of ingredients, and it is.  But I found that the applesauce and the honey make it ten times better.  I don't lie to myself and pretend that this is equivalent to eating 3 bananas.  However, I do like to think that it's better than eating an entire row of Chips Ahoy cookies.  

I would like to thank Taste Of Home and All Recipes for providing the original recipes so that they could combine to make this all powerful recipe :)