If you’ve read my Mission Statement, I talk about using the grocery store as my soux 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 box 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 was 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
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 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 tabespoons pure vanilla extract

Note: The Streusel ingredients are for 1 loaf of Banana Bread. Double the ingredients below for this recipe.

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

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

Directions For Streusel Topping:
Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl add the ingredients (double the amounts for 2 loaves) 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 all is combined. Refer to the picture above. Transfer to the freezer to chill for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. for dark pans. 400 degrees 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 pan on a rimmed baking sheet pan. Bring the streusel topping out of the freezer, evenly divide, sprinkling the topping between the two unbaked loaves. Bake (at 375 degrees 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 buter 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.