Banana Bread with Cinnamon Crumble Topping

We went up to the boy's family cottage this weekend and because of my compulsive need to bring something every time we go, I decided to make banana bread from a tasty recipe I saw on Orangette. I first attempted it on Friday night to no avail. The bottom and edges burned because I didn't watch it close enough and I'm not yet used to how hot my "new" oven gets. So we picked up some bananas on the way to the cottage and I re-attempted on Sunday morning. This time I slightly under cooked it, but only so that the center 2 pieces of the loaf were a bit gooey in the center, the rest was quite enjoyable.

Banana Bread with Cinnamon Crumble Topping

borrowed from Molly at Orangette

For bread

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium bananas)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup water

For topping

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 1/2 Tbsp packed dark brown sugar

1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees F. Butter & flour a 9x5-inch metal loaf pan. (Alternatively, you can spray the pan lightly with cooking spray and then line it with parchment paper, letting the excess hang over the sides.)

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda & salt. In a large bowl whisk together banana, eggs, oil, honey & water. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and stir well. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

3. In a small bowl, mix together the topping ingredients. Sprinkle them evenly over the batter.

4. Bake the bread until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour, give or take a little (This truly depends on how hot your over runs). Cool the bread in a on on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Then carefully remove the bread from the pan, taking care not to dislodge the topping. Cool completely before slicing.

This bread smells so delicious as it cooks. I haven't perfected the cooking time yet, but I think it has much to do with the oven you are using and having the patience to let it bake long enough, without leaving it too long. There is no picture because I inadvertently left the memory card out of my camera and the 3 pictures my camera could store just weren't up to snuff.

Regardless, bake this bread for you family this weekend, it's the perfect thing for the ones you love. It's delicious on it's own, but because I grew up putting butter on warm banana bread I had to try it and boy was it was wonderful. Enjoy!