Recipe: Cream Cheese Banana Bread

My version is a little overbrowned...

I was vastly unprepared for this recipe. I thought I had all of the ingredients and was ready to go, but I didn't actually check that until I had already started mixing things together in a bowl. The only reason I even made this recipe was because I knew I'd have leftover cream cheese after I had finished the bagels in my freezer. I did have leftover cream cheese, but only about two ounces; I thought I'd have about half a brick left, and this recipe actually calls for six ounces. So... this was destined to be an adventure.

Ingredients

For the bread:

·        2 large very ripe bananas peeled and mashed

·        ⅓ cup salted butter melted

·        ¾ cup light brown sugar packed

·        1 large egg

·        2 teaspoons vanilla

·        1 teaspoon baking soda

·        1½ cups all-purpose flour

For the cheesecake filling:

·        6 ounces cream cheese room temperature

·        ¼ cup granulated sugar

·        1 large egg

·        ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

·        3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick spray.

For the bread:

In a large bowl combine mashed bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and baking soda. Stir until combined. Gently stir in the flour. Mix just until incorporated. Set this aside.

For the cheesecake filling:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with an electric mixer) beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
2. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Finally, mix in the flour and stir just until combined.

To assemble:

1. Spread half of the banana bread batter into the bottom of your prepared pan.
2. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture in top of the batter. Spread the remaining banana bread batter on top of the cream cheese mixture.
3. Bake for about 50-60 minutes until the center of the bread is set. If the bread is browning too quickly, tent the pan with aluminum foil.
4. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 20-30 minutes before removing. Cool completely before slicing and serving.

Like I said, I knew this was going to be a disaster, but realized it a little too late and didn't want to waste anything, so figured I might as well bake something. Again, I didn't have enough cream cheese, and the filling was looking so wet. I stole some of my roommate's Laughing Cow cheese wedges to replace some of the missing cream cheese; not ideal, but I was getting creative! I also didn't know that I had run out of vanilla extract, and I was thiiiiis close to accidentally using mint extract instead! Thank goodness they are different colors so I knew something was wrong as soon as I poured it into the measuring spoon! I also never buy salted butter, so I meant to add some salt to the batter before I put it in the oven, but I totally forgot about doing that. Maybe the salt in the cheese wedges helped...? And while I did have enough brown sugar, it had become hard as a rock (typical). I was able to break up the block with my hands, but I didn't bother measuring it. I figure the rock was as "packed" as it was going to get anyway, and I just eyeballed what I thought looked like 3/4 of a cup. So, this clearly was kind of a DIY recipe.

All the white-yellowy liquid is the wet cheese mixture, and you can see how I didn't divide the batter properly
because I didn't have enough to cover the top. Not a great start!

Anyway, my cream cheese filling was so wet, and I didn't divide the dough mixture evenly between the top and bottom layers, so I thought the whole thing was going to end up a big mess. I baked the loaf for 60 minutes; I knew that was a little long, but I was really afraid of all the liquid! In the end, everything solidified and was indeed a bread (instead of a mushy bread pudding that I thought I'd get). It was a little dry, probably from overbaking (I also overmixed the dough mixture picking out those funky chunks of brown sugar that form sometimes). If I ever try to make this recipe again, I will clearly make sure I have ALL the proper ingredients first! I don't mind winging some things, but this was a real nail-biter...