This banana-nut bread is sprinkled with a delicious walnut crumb. It's the BEST Banana Bread with Walnut Streusel Topping!
Happy new year! Did you enjoy the holidays? I enjoyed taking some much needed time off! We traveled to North Carolina for Christmas and once we returned, Ben threw out his back and was in bed for a few days (yikes!). Poor guy was in serious pain. The scary part? He was scheduled to leave for a work trip to China just a few days later. So he had to take it VERY easy and finally started feeling better the morning he left. Whew!
I would love to hear your New Year resolutions! Would you like to hear mine? I want to blog less. WHAT!? Did I just type that out loud? Why, yes, I did. This year, I'm pledging to focus more on my family and spend less time on my computer. In order to do that, I'm stepping back from blogging. This doesn't mean I'm stopping. I still want to post at least once a week. The main change will be how much time I spend on all of the tasks that go with being a full-time blogger.
If you are not a blogger, then you may not realize all of the behind-the-scene work that goes into maintaining a blog. It can be very overwhelming. Serious bloggers spend hours on social media each day promoting their content, along with sharing other blogging friends' content. They also are diligent in reading and commenting on other blogs, writing new posts every day, contributing as freelance writers to other websites, pinning on Pinterest, reading articles to stay up to date on industry standards, communicating with fellow bloggers, recipe testing, photographing, photo editing, answering emails, negotiating and signing contracts with brands, performing website maintenance, moderating comments, etc. etc. etc. It's all the Twittering and Pinning that really gets to me. I really don't use either one all that much, myself. Now, Instagram on the other hand...I love it. Haha!
Judah starts kindergarten in the fall, and I want to spend as much time with him as I can until that happens. I want our moments together to be fun and fulfilling, without the worry of finding time in the every single day to work on this blog and trying to promote it. I've already tested this out in the last couple of weeks, and when I do not have deadlines on my mind, I'm enjoying my kids so much more. No longer am I constantly trying to think of new content to write about, and instead everything I do is purely for the enjoyment of my family.
Anyway, that is one of my New Year resolutions. After eight years of blogging, I feel like this is the right time for me to take a step back. I'll still be here sharing recipes, travel posts and other fun posts. You might not even realize a change because most of it will be behind the scenes. Regardless, my family will notice the change and that's what counts. 🙂
Now, here's a favorite banana bread recipe of mine. Not much to say about it except it's awesome with the walnut streusel topping, so don't leave it out! 😉
This is a very simple Banana Bread with Walnut Streusel Topping. It's easy to quickly mix together the streusel topping and sprinkle it over the batter before popping in the oven. I think you'll love it!
Recipe Card
Banana Bread with Walnut Streusel Topping
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 eggs , lightly beaten
- 1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup butter , melted
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
For the streusel topping:
- 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cold butter , diced small
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and ginger; set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, bananas, sugar and butter. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients all at once. Gently stir until just combined. (Do not over mix, the batter should still be lumpy.) Fold in the walnuts. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread evenly.
For the streusel topping:
- In a medium bowl, toss together the brown sugar and flour. Using your fingers, rub in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Toss in the walnuts. Sprinkle streusel mixture evenly over top the batter in the loaf pan.
- Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a wooden toothpick comes out clean from the center. (Cover with foil during the last 10-15 minutes of baking to prevent over browning.)
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely on cooling rack. For best results, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store overnight before slicing and serving.
- Source: BHG Breakfast & Brunch, 2013
