Make your whole house smell like Christmas with this delicious and moist Ginger Banana Bread with cream cheese icing that’ll blow your mind!
December 2020 is here and I’m ultra excited to post my first ever Christmas recipe on here!
As usual, I got ahead of myself and went on a crazy rampage at the supermarket and bought everything I needed for the recipes I had in mind. In doing so I got myself into a pickle and had trouble deciding what I should make for my first Christmas post. In the end, my overripe bananas helped me with this decision, so Ginger Banana Bread it is!
You will definitely know it’s Christmas when you have this loaf baking in the oven. The whole house will smell like sweet ginger and banana.
So if you love gingerbread and banana bread then this loaf will truly tick all your boxes. The added bonus of the cream cheese icing just takes this bread to a new level.
What I love about this ginger banana bread is it’s not too sweet, even with the icing. As the icing is made with cream cheese it’s not as rich and sugary as buttercream.
The over bread texture is soft, a cross between banana bread and cake. The bananas make the bread moist and add flavour but the gingerbread flavour is more pronounced because it’s a Christmas loaf after all!
In saying that, it doesn’t have to be Christmas to enjoy this bread as it goes perfectly with your favourite cup of coffee or tea. In fact, I am having a slice right now whilst I am writing this post!
Christmas and yummy gingerbread
I have a peculiar relationship with ginger. You see, I love the flavour that it produces whether I am using it for tea, stirfries or desserts however I can’t actually eat it. So no matter if the ginger is pickled, cooked or in its raw form, I just can’t for the life of me eat it. I’m not sure if it’s the texture of the strong taste but I always pick it out.
Gingerbread has always been a treat associated with Christmas for me.
When we were little there was a quaint little bread shop in our suburb that sold the most delicious gingerbread. It was perfectly spiced with a chewy texture and was covered in royal icing. The gingerbreads were beautifully decorated and you could choose from Santa, Christmas tree and a snowman. Me being greedy I always choose the snowman as it was the biggest of the lot!
Unfortunately, that bread shop was taken over by new owners and they never made the gingerbreads. I tried a few times to recreate the gingerbreads they made but could never seem to get the right texture I wanted. They tasted nice but lacked the chewiness I craved. Also working with royal icing takes a lot of practice and patience.
Once my 13-month-old Kai grows up I would love to make gingerbread with him. I can predict there will be a whole lot of mess but it’ll all be fun!
Ginger and Banana bread?
If you have seen some of my recipes you’ll probably notice a pattern in my cooking. I love experimenting with ingredients that are not commonly used together. It’s the magic of discovering delicious and unique flavour combinations.
Here are a few of my recipes which people have told me was an unusual combination but were pleasantly surprised by how much they loved it: RED DUCK CURRY WITH LYCHEES, PEA SOUP WITH WASABI and MANGO SALSA SALMON
It’s time for ginger and banana to be paired up and it works out fabulously!
I love gingerbread as much as I love banana bread so why not have both all in one? So I did and I created my ginger banana bread by tweaking my favourite banana bread and gingerbread recipes.
Last Christmas I took my Ginger and Banana Bread with me and everyone loved it as much as I did. I was too drunk to remember the finer details, hahaha! kidding Kai was only a month old at that time so there was no drinking for me.
Ingredients needed for Ginger Banana Bread
FOR THE BREAD :
Bananas – Try to use overripe bananas as it will give the bread more flavour and adds sweetness. I used 3 medium-sized bananas.
Molasses – Molasses is a thick a sugar syrup, it can come in light, dark and blackstrap. Darker Molasses have an intense flavour and is slightly bitter compared to the light variety. I used blackstrap, however, you use any variety you prefer. Molasses can usually be found near the honey and syrups aisle in supermarkets or in health food stores.
Yoghurt – I used thick plain Greek yoghurt. Any plain thick yoghurt can be used as a substitute.
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE ICING:
Icing sugar – I prefer to use icing sugar mixture rather than pure icing sugar because it stays clump-free in the pantry. Pure icing sugar can be used but you may need to sift it before using.
Cream cheese – For me, no other brand can beat Philadelphia’s cream cheese in terms of taste and quality.
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How to make Ginger Banana Bread
Step-by-step guide with photos
FOR THE BREAD
Prior to cooking leave the butter, eggs and yoghurt out for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Preheat the oven at 180°C (356°F) or for fan-forced 160°C (320°F). Line and grease a 20cm x 12cm (7.9 x 4.7 inches) bread loaf tin with non-stick baking paper.
Using a stand or handheld mixer on medium to high-speed cream the eggs and sugar together for a few minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix for 30 seconds in between. Add in the mashed bananas, yoghurt, molasses and vanilla and mix for a minute or until well combined.
In a large bowl sift in the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt and bi-carb and whisk to combine. Make a well in the flour and pour in the wet ingredients, fold and mix gently to combine.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and cook for 45 to 55 minutes. To prevent the bread from overcooking test the bread at 45 minutes by inserting a skewer in the middle, if it comes out clean it’s cooked.
Leave the bread to rest in its tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and let it cool off completely before applying the icing.
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE ICING:
Using a hand or stand mixer on medium speed beat the cream cheese and butter together for a minute. Add in 1/2 a cup of sugar in at a time and mix until combined. Pour in the vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon of milk and mix for a minute. If you prefer a thinner icing add another 1/2 teaspoon of milk and mix again.
Apply icing by carefully pouring it on top of the bread, use a butter knife to spread the icing evenly.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.
A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.
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Cheers (I’ll drink to that) – Cat Tre
Ginger Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 100 gm unsalted butter
- ½ cup brown sugar (packed)
- 2 large eggs
- 3 medium banana (NOTE 1)
- ½ cup molasses (NOTE 2)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup plain Greek yoghurt (NOTE 3)
- 2 cup plain flour (all-purpose)
- 1 tsp bicarbonate soda (bi-carb/baking soda)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
CREAM CHEESE TOPPING
- 125 gm cream cheese (NOTE 4)
- 50 gm butter
- 1½ cups icing sugar mixture (NOTE 5)
- ½ to 1 tsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prior to cooking leave the butter, eggs and yoghurt and cream cheese out for 30 minutes at room temperature.
FOR THE BREAD
- Preheat the oven at 180°C (356°F) or for fan-forced 160°C (320°F). Line and grease a 20cm x 12cm (7.9 x 4.7 inches) bread loaf tin with non-stick baking paper.
- Using a stand or handheld mixer on medium to high-speed cream the eggs and sugar together for a few minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix for 30 seconds in between. Add in the mashed bananas, yoghurt, molasses and vanilla and mix for a minute or until well combined.
- In a large bowl sift in the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt and bi-carb and whisk to combine. Make a well in the flour and pour in the wet ingredients, fold and mix gently to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and cook for 45 to 55 minutes. To prevent the bread from overcooking test the bread at 45 minutes by inserting a skewer in the middle, if it comes out clean it's cooked.
- Leave the bread to rest in its tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and let it cool off completely before applying the icing.
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE ICING
- Using a hand or stand mixer on medium speed beat the cream cheese and butter together for a minute. Add in 1/2 a cup of sugar in at a time and mix until combined. Pour in the vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon of milk and mix for a minute. If you prefer a thinner icing add another 1/2 teaspoon of milk and mix again. Apply icing by carefully pouring it on top of the bread, use a butter knife to spread the icing evenly.
