Just when you think banana bread can’t get any better…it can! I made this recipe today for the first time and we ate half the loaf in the first hour! It is so delicious and the perfect balance. I’ve made banana bread over a dozen times and added chocolate chips, nuts and just plain but I wanted to try something different. I recall seeing a Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffin recipe so I was curious to try it with bananas!
I had a big “fail” moment after baking it but I was wrong! I tried it warm and it didn’t taste that great but after it completely cooled down, it was so good! At first, the cream cheese part tasted like cooked eggs when it was still warm but once it cooled down, that taste went away. The longer it sat on the counter, the better it was! I do recommend making sure you mix the cream cheese filling really well before adding it to the banana batter.
Below is the full recipe. Next time, I will add a bit more sugar to the cream cheese filling and maybe a bit more vanilla extract. Also, make sure you swirl it very well. Especially when you layer it.
Cream Cheese Banana Bread Recipe
PREP TIME: 10 mins
COOK TIME: 60 mins
Ingredients
For the banana bread:
- 2 to 3 very ripe bananas, peeled (about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups mashed)
- 1/3 cup melted butter, unsalted or salted
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch salt
- 3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you would like it less sweet, 1 cup if you want it sweeter)
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
For the cream cheese filling:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 4×8-inch loaf pan.
- Make the banana bread batter: In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas.Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.
- Make the cream cheese swirl: In another bowl, beat together all the ingredients for the cream cheese filling.
- Swirl the batters in the pan: Pour half of the banana bread batter in the loaf pan. Top the batter with half of the cream cheese filling — one dollop at a time. Top with remaining batter. Top with the remaining cream cheese filling one dollop at a time. Insert a butter knife about halfway into the batter and run through the batter vertically and horizontally to swirl the cream cheese into the banana bread batter.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean: If the top starts to brown too much before the middle is done, tent the top with foil.
- Cool and store: Cool the banana bread for a few minutes in the pan, then remove from pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store covered at room temperature.
Let me know if you make it and love it!
