Cream Cheese Swirl Banana Bread

have a problem. 

It’s a banana problem.

I got to the grocery store, and the bananas look so good!  I will eat these as a healthy snack, I promise myself.

I buy a few, take them home, and park them on the counter.  Then 5.2 seconds later, they’re too spotty and brown, so I don’t eat them and I toss them in the freezer “for later” and forget about them.

Tragic.

So came a time (again) with an abundance of bananas in the freezer and half a block of cream cheese that needed to be used up, so I figured it was time to try out a new banana bread recipe!

This recipe takes that classic banana bread and jazzes it up a bit with a swirl of cream cheese.

I’ve had other bread with a cream cheese filling where the cream cheese layer ends up dry and off putting.  The key here is the addition of an egg into the mixture and keeping the cream cheese layer very thin.  Then you’re in for a real treat!

Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl

Adapted slightly from Just a Taste

Banana Bread

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

¾ cup white sugar

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

3 very ripe bananas, mashed

2 large eggs

¼ cup milk

6 tablespoons butter, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cream Cheese filling

5 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 large egg

¼ cup white sugar

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray.

Place the flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  Whisk together.

Whisk together the bananas, eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla in a separate bowl (medium sized).

Pout the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until combined.  The batter will be quite thick.

To make the filling, with the cream cheese, egg, sugar, flour, and vanilla together in a small bowl, stirring until smooth.

Pout about 1/3 of the banana bread mixture into the prepared pan and spread evenly.  Pour ½ of the cream cheese filling over top, followed by another 1/3 of the banana bread mixture, smoothing as evenly as possible.

Finally, add the remaining cream cheese filling, and last of the banana bread mixture.  Use a butter knife to swirl the layers, then bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then, lift the bread out of the pan and cool completely before slicing.