One food staple in our home is bananas. I typically will buy 2-3 bunches on a weekly basis. Jon used to eat 1-2 bananas everyday. One for breakfast and then one when he got home from work. But lately, we've been having crockpot oatmeal for breakfast and he no longer eats his morning banana. Therefore, we had a bunch of over ripened bananas waiting to be made into something special.

I love making banana bread because it's so versatile. You can make muffins, make mini loaves, add nuts, add chocolate chips, add blueberries, freeze it for a rainy day…there are just so many options! And it's so moist and delicious…you can really enjoy it any time of the day. I really like having a slice with a hot cup of coffee in the morning.

I've adapted this recipe from Allrecipes Banana Banana Bread recipe..which has over 8 thousand reviews with 4.5 stars! It's the one and only tried and true banana bread recipe that I really loved. It's super dense and has a rich banana flavor. It also calls for the most bananas that I've ever seen in a typical banana bread recipe. I mean this is a dense, rich banana bread. If you're looking for something light and fluffy..this is not the recipe.

To decided to spruce up this banana loaf and swirl in some melted cookie butter. I am in love with this stuff.

I eat it with bananas, pancakes, toasts…drop a spoonful in my oatmeal. It's delectable! This particular brand is by Trader Joe's, but I've also seen a Biscoff brand at Mariano's. I haven't tried any other brands besides Speculoos Cookie Butter. If you haven't tried it, it's basically those small Biscoff biscuit cookies that they use to give you on the plane. Sort of like a cinnamon graham cracker cookie. They would package them in two….but it just wasn't enough. Now imagine that cookie made into a peanut-butter-like paste. Absolutely delicious! I'm looking forward to incorporating this into my macaron adventures!

Hope you enjoy this fun twist on the classic banana bread!

Ingredients:

4-5 medium over ripened bananas

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 tspn baking soda

1/4 tspn salt

1/2 tspn cinnamon

1/2 c softened butter

3/4 c brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tspn vanilla extract

1/2 c cookie butter (melted in the microwave for 20 seconds)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a loaf pan.

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

3. In a mixer, cream together butter and brown sugar. Cream until light and fluffy. Add ripened bananas, eggs and vanilla. Mix until bananas are well mashed and incorporated into batter.

4. Pour flour mixture into wet mixture. Hand stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Do not over mix.

5. Layer 1/3 of batter in bottom of prepared pan. Drizzle melted cookie butter and swirl with a knife. Repeat until all of batter is used, and swirl cookie butter on top layer. Bake for 50-70 minutes. Toothpick should come out clean when thoroughly baked through. Allow to cool before cutting. Devour.