Biscoff Crunch Banana Bread

I am SUCH a silly girl! I was so proud of myself for getting all the utilities changed over to our new apartment, switched cable and internet providers to save us money and wasted channels, then set them up to start on Monday. Whoops!! I forgot our current services aren't just going to follow us over to the next building. :) So, since I won't have internet over the weekend, I'm setting up my next few posts tonight, in a marathon blog-writing event! We're going to watch/listen to the last few episodes of American Idol too. I'm losing all of my saved shows, after all! Must keep caught up! Although I have to say, this season is seriously lacking in unique, original talent. Not like the last two seasons. And from the judges' comments, it's pretty obvious what they're looking for, and it's NOT another Phillip Phillips. They are on the prowl for a Pop Star. "The whole package." Oh well, there are a few people who are definitely worth watching, and cheering!!

Enough about American Idol. Sorry for the tangent. I'm so excited about this recipe. I told my Mom it was the BEST banana bread EVER, and she laughed at me. She said, "Well, you've made so many banana bread recipes that its pretty impressive if something tops the old ones!" (or something like that, sorry Mom) And she's right. This is awfully impressive. And it's going to take a lot to top it.

The Geologist is popping popcorn... I miss popcorn...

Biscoff Crunch Banana Bread (adapted slightly from Table for Two)
Printable Recipe

3 over-ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup Biscoff spread (you can use crunchy or smooth, I used crunchy and LOVED it!!)
3 Tb melted butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
12-18 Biscoff cookies, broken into chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease/line a loaf pan and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, combine bananas, yogurt, Biscoff spread, melted butter, and eggs, and mix until well blended. (Yes, I know, my eggs aren't beaten. Which is why I'm telling you to beat yours first, it's easier.)

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Slowly add to the liquid ingredients, beating until batter is mixed well. Gently fold in 3/4 of the cookie pieces with a spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, use a spatula to smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining cookie pieces.

Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, or with moist crumbs. Let cool completely before removing from pan and slicing.

I had 13 pictures of this bread after I was done editing... And I didn't want to get rid of a single one... isn't it fun how you can see bits of the letters on the cookies? I don't know why that detail makes me smile, but it does. 

I know I promised that I wouldn't always give you a zillion pictures now that I have a new camera, but it turns out that snowy days, just the right kind of snowy days, can give you killer light!!

I love to leave my bananas a little lumpy, it's so delicious to get a pocket of warm, gooey banana in there...

See the dark spots? Those are the cookie chunks, they disintegrate into soft little chunks of Biscoff deliciousness. They don't stay crunchy, but it doesn't matter. Really.

The toasty, brown sugar-with-a-hint-of-cinnamon flavor of those Biscoff cookies is a perfect pair with bananas! I never would have thought it, but it reminds me of the cinnamon sugar bananas I used to get at a Brazilian grill in Utah. 

Fantastic. Track down these cookies and make this, you may never make banana bread without them again! I won't. At least for a while... :)

Shared at On the Menu Monday