Banana Bread with Streusel Swirl

The warm smell of baked bread wafting through the house in the early morning. It's a homey smell, laced with warm cinnamon.

It's a smell I woke up to a lot in my childhood home.

The smell of freshly baked banana bread.

Oh, the memories.

My mother has a slight obsession with baking this Southern comfort food during the summertime and especially in the holidays. But who doesn't love Banana Bread?!

The recipe I used for this is a tried-and-true family recipe that goes all the way back to my Great-Grandmother in the 1950s.
It's a bit different than my own, but I couldn't think of a better recipe to share with you than this version.

It's a very sturdy version, that bakes up beautifully into a tall one pound loaf. I've tweaked this a tiny bit and added a streusel filling and topping along with some chocolate chips. I have a lovely coffee cake recipe that's my go-to (I'll add this later) and rather than make two different things, I thought I would combine them.

I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does!

Firstly, gather your ingredients!

Cream the shortening and sugar.

Beat your two eggs in a small glass before adding them to your batter. I like to use my Norman Rockwell collector's glasses. Also add the mashed bananas, vanilla, and lemon juice at this point. Mix it well!

Finally, add in the rest of your ingredients and mix until it's all incorporated and looks delicious!

Be sure to preheat your oven to 375 F and put half of the batter in a well-greased loaf pan.

Now it's time for streusel!

Combine all of your streusel ingredients in a bowl (I used a glass bowl, I promise it's not just sitting on my counter!) and crumble with your hands until the butter is well incorporated in everything. It should be crumbly, not wet. Put a very generous layer of streusel (about half of what's in the bowl) on the batter that's in your pan and sprinkle generously with chocolate chips. I like the mini kind.

Pour the remaining batter on top. Use a knife to swirl the batter and the streusel filling around in your loaf pan. Top with remaining streusel and some more chocolate chips (if you feel like it). Put it in the oven and bake until set and a knife comes out easily without a lot of batter on it. 

Note: The knife test might come out with butter on it from the streusel filling. This is fine.

My Little Bird enjoying some of the finished product for breakfast this morning. 

Big slice for a little girl.

Mers' Banana Bread

• 1/2 c. shortening
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 c. mashed bananas (about 3)
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 c. flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Streusel Filling

• 2/3 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 4 tbsp. cold butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Cream shortening and sugar in a stand mixer. Beat eggs in a separate glass or bowl and add to the creamed mixture. Add in mashed bananas (or whole overly-ripened bananas - which will smash themselves), lemon juice, and vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a separate bowl and add to the wet mixture in batches to make sure it's well-incorporated.

In a separate bowl, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter for the streusel until crumbly.

Pour half of the banana bread batter into a well-greased loaf pan. Sprinkle streusel filling on the batter and adorn with chocolate chips. Add in remaining batter and swirl with a knife to get a swirl effect. Top with remaining streusel and chocolate chips.

Bake in the oven for an hour or until bread is set and knife comes out clean.*

Makes 1 one pound loaf.

* Baking times vary depending on the weather or the type of oven you have.

Photos were taken with my iPhone 4 and edited on iPhoto.