We like bananas at our house but the thing is they get soft and mushy too fast, and I’m often left with a lot of over-ripe bananas. I could freeze them but usually I don’t have enough freezer space. I recently had too many ripe bananas and also too much cream cheese in my refrigerator. I therefore thought — why not make banana bread with a cream cheese frosting?

Banana bread has a delightful texture — it’s like a cake. It’s soft, moist, and has just the right amount of banana flavor. The base of this bread came from my Caribbean Banana Bread recipe. The cream cheese frosting makes this one a real winner.

A great thing about making this is the wonderful aroma that fills the kitchen. You might be wondering why I have decorative sugar sprinkled over the frosting. This was to make it a bit festive for Mardi Gras. Alternatively you could decorate your bread with chopped walnuts, thinly sliced bananas, or melted chocolate. Of course you could also leave it plain, which would be a healthy option.

I know there are a lot of banana bread recipes out there, but I urge you to try this one. It is absolutely delicious and is a real crowd pleaser.

Ingredients

Bread

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon powder
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 3 large ripe bananas
• 1/2 cups chopped walnut or pecans

Cream cheese frosting

• 4 oz. softened cream cheese
• 1/3 cup softened unsalted butter
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp. milk

Instructions

Bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray and lightly flour a Bundt pan, then set aside.

Place butter, sugar, eggs, salt, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Use a handheld mixture to mix all ingredients together. Stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Add mashed banana to the creamed mixture, then mix well. Stir in chopped walnut.

Transfer this mixture to a greased and floured Bundt pan, spreading it evenly. Bake for 50-55 minutes in your preheated oven, rotating once for even baking.

Check to see if the bread is done by inserting a toothpick in the middle of it. You will know it is done when the toothpick comes out clean or has a few crumbs. Gently invert the cake into large plate.

Cream cheese frosting

Cream butter, vanilla, salt, and cream cheese in a bowl and mix with an electric handheld or stand mixer. Make sure it is well-combined and no lumps are visible.

Slowly add powdered sugar and milk, then beat until creamy. Use this frosting to frost cooled banana bread.

You can sprinkle colored sugar to decorate the banana bread as seen in the picture.

Serves 8-10

Did you make this dish? I’d love to know how it turns out! Feel free to like this post and comment or use the hashtag #globaldinein on Instagram. If you would to be notified of upcoming posts, please consider subscribing to my blog!