Cinnamon Crunch Swirled Banana Bread – made with extra-ripe bananas and vanilla and swirled with cinnamon sugar. Top this sweet banana bread with a sprinkle of homemade cinnamon CRUNCH topping and bake away. It’s especially delicious when eaten warm, right out of the oven! Each soft, sweet cinnamon banana slice has a little cinnamon crunch with every bite. Everyone loves this special banana bread!
I haven’t been excited about creating a new banana bread recipe for the last couple of years. I already have the perfect recipe that I adore so much. And honestly, I don’t think you need to overcomplicate banana bread.
It’s pretty delicious just as is – or maybe with walnuts or chocolate chips. Of course, chocolate chips are the house favorite over here.
Therefore, I haven’t made banana bread in a long time. But when I had a bunch of brown bananas staring me down the other week, I actually had some excitement and desire to bake banana bread! The weather was gross, and it felt like the perfect thing to bake!
I was very much in my autumn baking mode, as I’ve been preparing recipes for a cozy fall season for the last couple of weeks. My thought was to take the crunchy topping from my beloved cinnamon crunch bagels (that I used to order from Panera Bread as a kid). Then, swirl it through my go-to easiest banana bread recipe. It sounded so delicious.
I don’t know why I haven’t thought of this idea before now, but I think this might be the ultimate banana bread recipe—as in, maybe the only one you need!
Adding a rich and thick cinnamon swirl and topping with crunchy chunks of cinnamon sugar ensures the yummiest banana bread!
I fell head over heels for this recipe. It’s definitely a personal favorite!
The Details
Step 1: mix the cinnamon sugar
This is just cinnamon and sugar mixed together, nothing fancy.
The cinnamon sugar will be used in the middle and swirled through the bread.
Step 2: make the banana bread batter
The star ingredient in this banana bread is just that: overripe brown bananas. A deep, dark brown banana or heavily spotted brown banana will always give you the best loaf of bread with a nice banana flavor and sweetness.
Mash the bananas and mix with a little melted butter or coconut oil. These days, I’ve also been using melted ghee, which is also great!
Add pure maple syrup, a couple of eggs, and a splash of vanilla. Then, mix in some flour and baking soda to help the bread rise, and add a dash of salt. I like to use a small amount of maple syrup to sweeten this bread, but only a small amount.
The swirls of cinnamon sugar, in addition to the already sweet bananas, provide plenty of sweetness.
Once you’ve mixed the dough, spoon half into a bread pan, sprinkle the cinnamon sugar overtop, and then add the remaining dough.
Step 3: make the cinnamon crunch
The cinnamon crunch topping consists of brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and butter mixed together until clumps form.
Step 4: create the layers.
Now sprinkle the cinnamon sugar from earlier in the recipe and the clumps of cinnamon crunch over the first layer of dough.
Cover the cinnamon with the remaining batter, then use the remaining cinnamon crunch mixture on top.
1st layer – banana batter.
2nd layer – cinnamon sugar + cinnamon CRUNCH.
3rd layer – another layer of banana batter.
4th layer – a very thick layer of cinnamon CRUNCH on top.
And then you bake. This banana bread will take about an hour in the oven. As the bread bakes, the cinnamon melts into the sugar and butter, becoming nice and gooey. At the same time, the cinnamon topping begins to caramelize, becoming crunchy.
Everything together creates a DELICIOUS warm, sweet, soft, and tender banana bread.
Cinnamon Crunch Swirled Banana Bread
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 369 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a (9×5 inch) bread pan.2. Combine the sugar and cinnamon.3. In a bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, melted butter, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix until just combined. 2. To make the crunch. Mix the butter, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. 3. Spoon half the batter into the prepared bread pan. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar and 1/4 cup of the crunch mix, reserve the remaining crunch mix for topping. Evenly spoon the remaining batter over the sugar. Sprinkle over the remaining crunch mixture.4. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the center is just set. Remove and let cool for 30 minutes before cutting…or eat it warm with a smear of cinnamon butter. Enjoy!
