Banana Blueberry Quick Bread with Cinnamon Crunch Topping
Let's just say, when I pulled it out of the oven, it wouldn't have won any beauty contest or blue ribbons at the county fair. What with its deflated, sunken-in, craggly surface; blueberries at the bottom; and cinnamon-sugar topping not completely melted, I thought, "What a mess!"
But don't be fooled by its looks. It's scrumptious!
It's a bit of a mish-mash of recipes. I took Miette's recipe for Banana Bread (I was intrigued by the unusually long mixing/whipping process), switched out the pecan streusel topping for a cinnamon-sugar topping favored by Crazy for Crust and amped up the blueberries. The kids' response: "Make this more often!"
So the second time I made this, I substituted white whole wheat flour for half of the all-purpose. That gave the bread a little more structure and it didn't deflate as much, but the crumb was still very tender. I liked the result, so you'll see that change in the recipe below. Of course, if you don't have white whole wheat flour on hand, you can just stick with the all-purpose flour.
Also admittedly, I used a lot of blueberries, 4 cups per two loaves! Some bites were more blueberry than bread! My husband, who doesn't normally indulge in dessert, loved the abundance of blueberries, but if that's too much for you, reduce to 3 cups and that should still leave you with plenty of blueberry flavor.
Banana Blueberry Quick Bread with Cinnamon Crunch Topping
Adapted from Miette by Meg Ray
Makes two 9" x 5" loaves
In a medium bowl, whisk together:
1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour (156g)
1 1/8 cup white whole wheat flour (156g)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
In a stand-mixer bowl using the whisk attachment, whisk together at medium speed until well combined and light in color, about 4 -5 minutes:
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar (300g)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
While sugar and eggs are whisking, take 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture, and in a small bowl, toss with:
4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, patted dry (can reduce to 3 cups)
Set aside.
Also, prepare baking pan by buttering or spraying a 9" x 5" loaf pan and dusting heavily with flour. Tap out excess flour and set aside.
1/2 cup vegetable oil (canola or olive work fine)
Add and whisk until just combined:
4 medium bananas, soft, but not black, peeled and roughly mashed (approx. 16oz = 450g)
Add the flour mixture in three additions, whisking until just combined after each addition. Lastly, add flour-dusted blueberries and gently hand-fold them into batter until just combined.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Top with cinnamon sugar:
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Bake at 350°F for 50-60 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Remove pan from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run an offset spatula around the edges of the pan, invert to remove, then place cakes right side up on rack to cool for additional 20 minutes.
Can be wrapped tightly in plastic and refrigerated for up to 3 days or wrap in second layer of plastic and freeze for up to 2 months. Bring back to room temperature before serving.
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