Banana Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese inspired by Posie Harwood

When Posie Harwood posted on food52 about a better rendition of banana cake since the ones with yogurt added to it, I am all nuts over it and obviously jumping right into this new recipe almost very instantly. The addition to this version of banana cake is the addition of cream cheese into the recipe, and boy is this the most genius method ever. Adding cream cheese to classic banana cake recipe is an excellent trick indeed. The small amount actually gives a lovely texture and good flavour without weighing down the bread too much.

Ingredients:

• 85g salted butter
• 30g granulated sugar
• 40g brown sugar
• 1egg
• 1/4teaspoon vanilla extract
• 50g cream cheese, softened
• 50g Greek yogurt
• 2medium bananas, mashed
• 1 1/2cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4cup uncooked millet or chopped mix nuts for extra crunch (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180° c. Grease a standard-sized metal loaf pans.
2. Melt the butter in a large bowl. Add the sugars and whisk well to combine.
3. Add the eggs, mixing in each one at a time, then the vanilla and salt.
4. Add the softened cream cheese and Greek yogurt. If your cream cheese doesn’t fully incorporate, and has some lumps, transfer your batter to a stand mixer (or use a handheld electric mixer) and beat on high for a few minutes. The batter will lighten up in colour and the lumps should smooth out. If you like to have lumps of cream cheese in between the banana cake bites, lightly mix the soften cheese.
5. Add the mashed bananas and mix well.
6. Add the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon if using. Stir until the batter just comes together. If you want to use millet, which gives the bread a wonderful crunch, add it now.
7. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool before turning out of the pans and slicing.

Serve with some crushed pistachio nuts and Greek yogurt with a light drizzle of honey.

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