I consider this a variation on a classic: Banana Bread baked with Raspberry. I like Banana Bread, but I always feel like it's a little bland, like it's missing something. While trying out different ideas on how to add that WOW factor to this bread, I came up with the idea to add jam. It's so simple and really adds a lovely flavor to a traditional banana bread recipe.
Raspberry Banana Bread
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups mashed very ripe bananas, about 3-4
- 3-4 TBSP raspberry jam {or strawberry, or blueberry, or whatever you'd like!}
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly grease a loaf bread pan. {I made 1 large load and 1 mini loaf.}
In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl cream together butter, brown sugar and the remaining spices. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended.
Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour HALF of the batter into prepared loaf pan.
Take your jam and spoon 1 TBSP in a line on the loaf. For the small loaf, you can see I just used 1 TBSP and did a line down the center. For the larger loaf, I did 2 lines each with 1 TBSP. Using a sharp knife, draw lines through the jam to add a nice swirl and spread it around a bit.
Pour the remaining batter on top, then repeat process with the jam. These top lines of jam are more visible, even after they bake, but even if you mess up a bit, don't worry. It all looks good after it's baked!
Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.
Let bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.
ENJOY!
