If you’ve read my Mission Statement, I talk about using the grocery store as my sous chef. There are so many great products out there today that can make your life easier in the kitchen, whether you’re baking or cooking a meal. I love to take advantage of boxed cake mixes.

Box mixes are a great base for any bread, brownie, cake, or muffin you may want to make in a pinch. Listen, baking from scratch is great, but sometimes you just don’t have the time. Today is one of those times. I promised someone at work I’d make them Banana Bread, so I took advantage of a box mix to do this recipe today, but I’ve added a couple of ingredients to make it as though it were scratch-made.

This is my Banana Bread With Streusel Topping.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes to 1 hour
Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Yields: 2 loaves, 12 servings
Equipment: 2 (5 x 9) non-stick loaf pans, large rubber spatula, large mixing bowl, small mixing bowl, 2 rimmed baking sheet pans, whisk, skewer/cake tester

Ingredients:
2 (14-ounce) boxes of Pillsbury Quick Bread Banana
2 ripe bananas, soft but not brown inside
4 large eggs
2 cups of water
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla paste, substitute 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract

Ingredients For Streusel:
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour,
3 tablespoons of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, optional
1 tablespoon of very cold butter, cut into small pieces

Instructions For The Batter:
In a large mixing bowl, smash 2 ripe bananas. Add 4 large eggs, water, vegetable oil, and vanilla paste. Whisk to combine.

Slowly add the dry mix, one package at a time, continuously whisking to combine the dry and wet ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix the batter. Allow the batter to rest while making the streusel topping.

Instructions For The Streusel Topping:
Meanwhile, add the ingredients (double the amounts for 2 loaves) in a small mixing bowl from the list above. Using your fingers, cut (smush the butter with your finger into the dry ingredients) the butter pieces into the dry ingredients, mixing until combined. Refer to the picture above. Transfer to the freezer to chill for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375° F. for dark pans. 400° F. for glass or metal pans.

Start by spraying the pans with non-stick cooking spray. Evenly divide the batter between the two pans and place each loaf pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Bring the streusel topping out of the freezer. Evenly divide the streusel, and sprinkle the topping between the two unbaked loaves. Bake (at 375°F.) for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until a skewer or cake tester comes out clean.

Allow the bread to cool for 30 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to ensure the bread will release easily. Slice and serve.

There you have it, my Banana Bread With Streusel Topping.

Notes:
1) The Streusel ingredients are for 1 loaf of Banana Bread. Double the ingredients for this recipe.
2) Linda Lou Hamel is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value are important to you, I recommend running the ingredients through the online nutritional calculator of your choice. Calories and values can vary depending on the brands you choose.