Taking the Quest for the Best Banana Bread to New Elevations

The countdown is on folks! Only a few more recipes before we’re opening up the freezer, thawing the banana bread slices and having ourselves a banana bread feast all the while we determine which is our favorite recipe. Perhaps it will be this one? Only time will tell.

This next recipe wasn’t originally going to be in the mix, but we ran across it while surfing around one day, and it was enough different than all the others that we had to give it a try. We found it over at a blog called Inside the Kaganoff Kitchen and it’s called Mountain Sky Banana Bread. So what was so special about this bread that it was calling our name? Cream cheese. Yum!

We happened to make this bread when Mr. N was actually home, so he got to be my helper this time. I think he was feeling a little left out since Miss A and I usually roll out a banana bread while he’s at school. So he got to mashing…

And mashing…

Then we creamed the butter and sugar together until creamy. Next we added vanilla, lemon juice (another new ingredient!) and the eggs.

Finally we mixed in the bananas and cream cheese.

At this point, Mr. N was done. He’d had enough, but wouldn’t you know who came strolling into the kitchen with big eyes and a pouty lip. Yep, Miss A, who looked at me and said, “I thought I was your sous chef.” I was caught between laughter at the fact that she knows the word sous chef and heart-break that she thought she had been replaced. Not to worry though, after a big hug, she got to jump in for her favorite part – the pastry blender. Miss A took care of mixing up all the dry ingredients including flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder.

We then mixed the dry ingredients into the wet and poured it into our trusty loaf pan. Check out how much lighter in color this batter is than others we’ve done.

Now just for good measure (and since we sunk them last time) we’re again using Kelly’s idea of slicing some bananas over the top of the bread.

We baked the bread at 350F for 50 minutes and then cooled it in the pan for about 10 minutes.

The bread has a much lighter color and a crust similar to that of a loaf of bread. We were very curious about how this was going to taste – and dying to dig into those bananas across the top. Well, we didn’t wait long and why bother, nothing beats warm banana bread. (Well, lots of things beat warm banana bread – like this and this which are still stuck in my head but you get what we’re saying.)

The bread tasted about how it looked – a lot more like a bread than a dessert. It was lighter and had more of a bread-like texture than that of a cake. No matter though, the kids devoured it…and wanted more.

Mike seemed to really enjoy this version as well. I thought it was pretty good, but I know I prefer some of the others to this one. I think I’m partial to the brown sugar varieties. Again, only time will tell, and that time is coming in early January! What a feast that’s going to be…mmmmmmm.

In the meantime, if you’d like to give this version a shot, you can find the recipe here: Mountain Sky Banana Bread

42 thoughts on “Taking the Quest for the Best Banana Bread to New Elevations”

  2. Lisa says:
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    I bet the cream cheese tasted amazing. I can’t wait for the taste challenge! You always make me want to bake some banana nut bread!

    BTW, your kids are adorable little chefs in the making. I bet they can bake banana nut bread in their sleep! 🙂

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    • Kristy says:
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      I can’t tell you how excited we are Karen. We haven’t figured out how to do our rankings yet…I’m thinking it might be complicated so we have to come up with a simple rating system. 😉

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  6. spicegirlfla says:
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    I like this new twist to banana bread as it doesn’t look like the dessert type but rather more bread-like in appearance. And the row of bananas is a great tip from Kelly!! For my taste, I might reduce the sugar, how did you feel about the sweetness of the bread? (Darn I sure need a little sous chef in my kitchen!!)

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    • Kristy says:
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      You know it wasn’t terribly sweet. I think that’s probably why the others liked it so much. I tend to be the one that leans more toward the sweet things. And the sous chefs are a definite highlight in the kitchen. 🙂

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  7. Kelly says:
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    I love the lemon in this recipe (and, ok, the banana row is pretty cool too 😉 – thanks for the love). I smiled reading about Mr. N bailing, my kids do that all the time – ha-ha – usually right around dish washing time… Looking forward to the big reveal in January… it will be something fun to look forward to after the holiday season let-down.

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    • Kristy says:
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      Sure thing – you know I’m going to do that to all our breads now. 🙂 It’s a keeper. LOL. Yep – Mr. N likes to get involved early on and then bail. His attention span is only so long. Miss A on the other had would accept dishes as a prize. It’s just too much fun to get into the bubbles and use a scrub brush after all. 😉 And I’m with you – this will be fun as a post holiday treat.

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  8. Geni - Sweet and Crumby says:
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    Your kids are priceless Kristy. I love that she knows what a sous chef is. It goes to show you how much all of this cooking has rubbed off on them. What fun! This bread does look yummy but I think I would be partial to a sweeter, brown sugar variety as well. I do have a bit of a sweet tooth as you well know. 😉

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  9. Eva Taylor says:
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    I am looking forward to the evaluation post of all the banana breads, Kristy. This one is interesting, did the extra calories from the cream cheese make much of a taste difference?

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  10. Caroline says:
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    Ahhh January is so close!! I can’t wait to hear about the results. How many different breads have you tried now? This one looks so moist, and I like the idea of adding cream cheese to the mix. I love that Miss A not only calls herself your sous chef, but also that she knows and can pronounce the word…too cute! 🙂

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  11. Courtney says:
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    Hah, Kristy – I love the Miss A knew the title sous chef – because my 4 year old does, too. Good things for them to know early. I really can not wait to hear the final results of your banana bread request! All the ones I’ve seen look so good, I have no idea how you’ll choose. 🙂

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  12. ChgoJohn says:
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    Had I just seen that last photo without any accompanying description, I may have thought it was some sort of homemade white bread and certainly not banana bread. I love that it includes cream cheese and will be interested to see how this one “places” in the final Banana Pageant.

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  13. Charles says:
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    You’re healthier than me – anything that looks like bread I get an overwhelming urge to slather with butter 😀 I do enjoy a bit of bread with my butter! Love the line of bananas in the middle and the little ditch it makes.. looks really cool – like a split tin loaf! But Kristy – I’m disappointed in you… I took a second look and noticed, horror of horrors… “Fat Free” Cream Cheese? This is Madness! (No, this is Sparta!)

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  18. sallybr says:
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    This is a serious contender…. I love the way it looked after baking. It seems lighter than mostmbanana breads around

    great job for all sous chefs as well as the chef, of course!

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  21. Katherine says:
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    Hi Kristy, oh my goodness cream cheese and that row of banana slices. I love that your kids know the definition of sous chef, too sweet. (Check your links, it might just be me, but I pulled up the timpano. I know competing with that behometh is impossible. I bet Greg rigged it to pull up his recipe. I shall talk to him now.) Thanks for the link love!

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