Cinnamon Streusel Banana Bread

Very few people love banana bread as much as my hubster – I’d say in the history of Banana Bread Lovers he’s easily in the top 5.

Because of the crumble topping we make the “bread” brownie-style and cut it into squares. It’s moist, delicious, and if you chose to cut out the oil, it’s a healthier alternative to normal baked goods. My Banana Bread Monster gives it the Two-Helpings-in-One-Sitting approval.


Cinnamon Streusel Banana Bread**

For the bread:

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 3 medium bananas)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup natural applesauce, oil, or a combo of both
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup water

For the topping:

• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 1/2 Tbsp packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease pan with cooking spray.


In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the banana, eggs, applesauce, honey, and water. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, and stir until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
In a small bowl, mix together the topping ingredients. Sprinkle evenly over batter. Bake bread about an hour, or until a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

**  I've never understood why sweet banana recipes always call for so much sugar!  Today I healthified this recipe and I wanted to note what I did for future reference or for others that are looking for ways to cut out the excess.

I used VERY ripe bananas, and cut back my sugar to only 1/2 c + 1 Tbs
I used 1 c whole wheat white flour, and 1/2 c bread flour (all purpose would work just as well)
I used 1/4 c natural applesauce and 1/4 c canola oil 
I used 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites
For the topping I used 3 Tbs packed brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp white sugar (and I stopped sprinkling it on once the batter was well covered, I had a lot left over).