The smell of freshly baked banana bread is one of the most comforting scents there is. And this cheesecake swirl banana bread has a surprise – a yummy cream cheese swirl baked into it. This one’s a keeper!
It’s incredibly important to me to not waste food, especially now with prices being as high as they are. Bananas may seem like an inexpensive and dispensable food but why throw them away when them away when they can create such great recipes like our gluten free banana quick bread?
Since the temps dropped I’ve been craving my pumpkin roll something fierce but after staring at some overripe bananas (and not wanting to waste them), I figured I would try the same concept as the pumpkin roll and make a cream cheese filling inside a banana bread.
Why this recipe works
FAT
- If you are not using a bread machine (which we are not) there is a lot of latitude when it comes to the choice of fat used. A lot of quick bread recipes call for fat of some sort, either oil, coconut oil or butter.
- We chose to use melted butter in this recipe. Oil is very neutral in flavor which doesn’t impede on the banana bread flavor. But, you will get a nice buttery mouthfeel when using melted butter. Since I’ve chosen to go low sodium in my diet, I always bake and cook using unsalted butter. So please keep that in mind when making this recipe.
SUGAR
- The ripeness of the banana MATTERS. You want an OVER ripe banana. Buzzfeed just posted an infographic on the stages of bananas that illustrated this perfectly. Over ripe means the banana is full of sugars which will ADD to the sweetness of the bread, NATURALLY.
ACIDITY
- Lastly, buttermilk. Quick breads are made without yeast, therefore the acid in buttermilk helps to leaven the bread. The acid found in buttermilk reacts to bases — most commonly baking soda — creating carbon dioxide gas helping to create a moist and fluffy bread.
Recipe Ingredients
- Ripe Bananas: Ripened bananas are the best bananas for this recipe because they super soft and full of sugar.
- Dry Ingredients: Flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt are all classic bread-making ingredients.
- Wet Ingredients: Melted butter, buttermilk, and eggs.
- Filling: cream cheese, egg, sugar, flour and vanilla
How to Make Cheesecake Swirl Banana Bread
- This banana bread is just like any other quick bread recipe. Mix the dry ingredients and wet together, being careful not to overmix.
- The difference with this recipe is the addition of the layer of a cream cheese filling. I’ve found a hand mixer is the best appliance to use to get a nice creamy, smooth filling. Make sure the cream cheese is completely at room temperature though or you will get lumps.
- Half the batter is poured into a loaf pan, topped with the cream cheese filling and topped with the remaining batter.
TIPS:
- If the bread starts to become too dark on top, simply “tent” the loaf pan with some aluminum foil to allow the bread to continue cooking but not browning.
- Allow the bread to completely cool before slicing. The cream cheese filling will need time to set.
- Because the filling is baked it does not have to be refrigerated, however I choose to refrigerate it.
- The banana bread can be frozen in slices or a complete loaf for up to 3 months.
How to Serve
Of course, you can’t go wrong with serving slices of this bread as-is. It makes the perfect go-to snack when that sweet tooth kicks in.
Another idea is to serve this alongside a dollop of Greek yogurt with fresh fruit like chopped bananas, strawberries, and/or blueberries.
When it comes to beverages, this bread pairs well with a tall glass of cold milk, a hot cup of coffee, or even a small glass of Irish coffee.
If you’d like a unique topping, consider making a cinnamon sugar mixture to sprinkle on top.
This is sure to be the best banana bread you’ve ever made and tasted!
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Cheesecake Swirl Banana Bread
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 Cup Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon Sea salt
- ½ Cup Sugar
- ½ Cup Unsalted Butter, melted
- ¼ Cup Buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
- 1 Large Egg plus 1 large egg yolk
- 3 Ripe Bananas, mashed
Cream Cheese filling:
- 6 Oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
- 2 Tbsp. Sugar
- 1 Egg
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla
- 2 Tbsp. Flour
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350° and butter and flour a 9×5 loaf pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In another large bowl, combine sugar, melted butter, buttermilk, vanilla, 1 egg and egg yolk and mashed bananas. Mix until smooth.
- Pour wet ingredients over dry and stir until combined.
For the filling:
- In a small bowl, using a hand mixer, mix together the egg, cream cheese, flour, vanilla and sugar until completely combined.
- Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan.
- Dollop the cream cheese filling on top and smooth in an even layer with a spatula. Top with remaining batter.
- Bake until golden and a toothpick comes out clean, approximately 1 hour.
- Let cool at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
The best banana bread with cream cheese ever – I give it 5 stars.
I have just started baking during this pandemic and started with your GF banana bread! My daughter has a gluten issue. She loved it. I then saw this recipe on Pinterest and I wanted to try this one b/c I love cream cheese. It was amazing. You’ve made several people in the Sway house very happy!
Thank you for this recipe!!! I made them in my mini loaf pan, they cooked in half the time AND WERE PERFECT! I just want to eat them all!
The banana bread is the best. I once had a good recipe but lost it. I think this recipe is better than it was. I will be using often. Thanks Deb
1/2 cup of sugar is just enough. Most of these quick bread recipes have way too much sugar. My husband and I can’t have that much. This was absolutely perfect.
This came out so good the first time I made it again the same week only I added peanut butter and chocolate chips. It was a little too sweet, I got ahead of myself. Maybe one or the other would be fine. I like the addition of the chocolate personally. Great recipe!D