Adventures In The Best Of Both Worlds
I like baked sweets. Cake. Cookies. Brownies. Sweet bread. Cinnamon rolls. I particularly love cinnamon rolls, but unless one makes them one’s self, you can never really be sure what you’re going to get. I would say about 50% of all cinnamon rolls that I’ve bought at various bakeries have been very disappointing.
The only cinnamon rolls that have never let me down are the ones made by Cinnabon. Years ago, back when my mother and I still lived in the same general area, we used to like to visit a local Cinnabon store, where we’d share a fresh cinnamon roll (they are huge! Much too big for one person…) while we watched the employees make more. I remember those visits fondly. Not only did I get to enjoy a delicious bake with my mother, but we were both quite enthralled watching the baking experts ply their trade. Ah, good times…
All of this brings me round to a new recipe I tried this week. I got the inspiration off of YouTube (big surprise) and decided to try combining my beloved banana bread recipe with the best part of any cinnamon roll, which is, of course, the butter/sugar/cinnamon filling. How could I fail?
Well, I will tell you how. First of all, I raided my freezer for my bag of frozen and extremely ripe bananas, took out enough pieces to equal three bananas, and let them thaw. When I got back to them later, they were mush, sitting in a puddle of brown liquid. I foolishly poured off the liquid and proceeded.
I made the cinnamon roll filling and set it aside.
I inserted some parchment paper into the bottom of an 8x8” baking pan, with enough coming up two sides that I could lift the dessert out when it was cooked. I also put some baking spray on the parchment, although that turned out not to be necessary.
And then things went sideways. I used my own fabulous Basic Banana Bread recipe and mixed it all up. The batter was unusually stiff as I put it into the baking pan, which should have given me pause to reflect but I pressed onward. Then I dolloped the cinnamon roll filling onto the surface and tried to swirl it in with a bamboo skewer. It was very difficult to do any swirling, because of the really stiff batter. I did the best I could and then shoved it into the oven.
About ten minutes into the baking, I realized that I’d added too much flour to the recipe. I needed to add 1.5 cups, and I usually do this with a half cup measure, which means I put in three scoops (half cup measures). In this case, I used my 3/4 cup measure, which I almost never use. And I still put in three scoops. This naturally resulted in me adding 2.25 cups of flour and yielded a stiff batter.
I know when I’m beat…I let the thing cook and then cool enough that I could pull it out of the pan, chuck it, and try again. I also got rid of the rest of those frozen bananas; I imagine pouring off all that liquid also contributed to the stiffness of the dough, so I was disinclined to try to use them in other recipes. However, I now only had two ripe bananas and a bunch of not very ripe bananas in my snacking supply.
No worries, I’d just pop down to the tiny grocery store at the local gas station, and get a ripe banana from there. I got to the store and was confronted with piles of the greenest bananas I’ve ever seen. Honestly, they almost glowed, they were so green. I came back home without a ripe banana, and Googled how to make bananas ripen faster. One method was to put them in a low-temp oven for a little bit, and that’s what I did. I think the banana did soften up a little bit, but it wasn’t an impressive change. Then I re-made the whole recipe.
Once I got everything right, the end result was amazing. In addition to the steps described above, a powdered sugar glaze was poured over the top while the bread was still warm and in the pan.
Then the whole thing was left to cool completely in the pan before I lifted it out by the parchment paper “handles”, and cut it into nine piece. Honestly, it’s just glorious. It really is the best of both worlds. It’s moist and gently banana-flavored, with swirls of cinnamon roll filling in every bite. It’s fantastic! And easy. Here’s the recipe: you’re welcome!
Cinnamon Roll Banana Bread
INGREDIENTS
For the filling:
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
For the banana bread:
3 large, ripe bananas, smashed
6 Tbsp melted unsalted butter
3/4 Cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 Tbsp bourbon or whiskey (not rye whiskey!)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cups flour
For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tbsp milk or cream
DIRECTIONS
Make the filling:
Combine the butter, sugar, cinnamon, and salt into a paste and set aside.
Make the banana bread:
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Prepare an 8x8” baking pan by covering the bottom with parchment paper, and bringing it up two sides to form handles, so the bread can be lifted out of the pan later.
In a large bowl, use a whisk to mix the butter into the mashed bananas. Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla and bourbon. Sift the dry ingredients over the top and whisk to combine.
Pour batter into the prepared baking pan. If the cinnamon roll filling has firmed up, pop it in the microwave for about 10 seconds to loosen it up. Then scoop it onto the top of the batter and use a toothpick to swirl it in. Don’t mix thoroughly…you are aiming for swirls of the filling throughout the bread.
Bake for 30-50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. If the tester keeps hitting the filling, you might need to judge done-ness by the texture of the bread. When the center feels mostly firm to the touch, it’s most likely done. Let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, and then proceed.
Make the glaze:
Mix together the powdered sugar and vanilla, then add cream (or milk) a little at a time until you have a pourable consistency. Then pour it over the top of the warm bread and spread it out so the whole surface is covered.
Let the bread cool completely in the pan, then lift it out by its parchment paper handles. Cut into nine pieces, and enjoy. The bread should last for 3-4 days, tightly covered at room temperature.
NOTES
If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice on hand, you can substitute:
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
A pinch of clove
If you wish to make this bread slightly more nutritious, you can substitute 1/2 cup of the regular flour for whole wheat pastry flour.
