Crunchy Top Banana Bread

I woke up yesterday morning with a distinct purpose. I had to make something which had cinnamon and sugar and pecans. The whole of my last week was spent dreaming of these flavors and I have no idea why. Wait a minute, I think I know why. Last weekend I had a not-so-successful attempt at making cinnamon rolls. In my enthusiasm and last minute rush, I missed activating the yeast correctly. The rolls tasted good but they didn't puff up as expected. However the filling I made for these rolls with brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans left a lasting impression with me. When the rolls were baking they enveloped the house in this wonderful sugary and cinnamony aroma. It was bliss and I was waiting all week to recreate it.

So yesterday morning found me in the quest of a goodie with cinnamon and sugar. An overripe banana looking at me wistfully provided the answer - Bake a banana bread and top it with this mixture of my dreams! I got right to it... and I am very happy to report that this weekend's baking attempt was way more successful than last weekends. And yes I did recreate the cinnamon-sugary delightfulness. It was the perfect way to start the weekend!

Crunchy topped Banana bread

Notes: I used this Banana bread recipe from Cooking Light with a few modifications which included using half cup sugar and one-fourth cup honey in place of one cup sugar. I used another one-fourth cup of brown sugar for the topping. I also omitted salt since I was using salted butter.

Ingredients:

2 cups Unbleached All-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup butter, softened (I used Smart Balance)

2 eggs

1 & 1/2 cups mashed bananas (3 medium ripe bananas)

1/3 cup plain non-fat yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 & 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

- Preheat oven to 350F.

- Combine flour and baking soda in a bowl and mix together with a whisk.

- Place sugar and butter in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well combined (around 1 minute).

- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

- Add banana, yogurt, honey and vanilla and beat until blended.

- Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until well combined and moist.

- Spoon the batter into a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan coated with butter or cooking spray.

- For the topping, mix all the ingredients together and then sprinkle on top of the batter in the loaf pan, covering it evenly.

- Bake in a 350F oven for around an hour or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

- Cool ten minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove from the pan and cool completely.

Makes one loaf and a very happy baker!