Well, I blinked and it’s the holiday season and holy cow, I have ALL THE THINGS to do! Not that this is particularly different from any other time of year, but somehow it all feels a bit more pressing when this season comes around. It may have something to do with two kids who seem a bit like elves on speed. Not sure.
Anyway, baking delicious loaves of banana bread serves many purposes at once. The act of baking it soothes my frayed nerves. It uses up the ridiculous number of bananas that somehow went brown and spotty all at once. It makes my house smell AMAZING. And it provides nourishment to the ravenous elves bouncing around my house. I have another banana bread recipe that I really like, but this one has surpassed it. The loaf itself is excellent, the topping is out of this world, and the combination is perfect.
This is what I would consider one of those “in between” baked items. Healthy-ish enough thanks to its whole grain nature that you don’t need to feel guilty about enjoying it for breakfast, but not so virtuous that I would actually call it healthy outright. It is undoubtedly irresistible enough that it is fully worthy of gifting the second loaf if you can bring yourself to share. The streusel topping is out of this world. Don’t skip it! You might notice, it is the very same one that topped a cranberry pie last week. If you need a nut-free version, a reader wisely suggested using ground biscoff cookies in place of the pecans. I haven’t tried that myself but it sounds like a delicious alternative!