Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

Steps

1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Lowering the oven rack prevents the top of your bread from browning too much, too soon. Grease a metal 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then beat in the mashed bananas, yogurt, and vanilla extract until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no flour pockets remain. Do not over-mix. You’ll have around 3 and 1/2 cups of batter.

4. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Spoon half of the banana bread batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Pour and spread remaining batter on top. The top layer of batter will want to stick to the cinnamon-sugar filling, making spreading a little tougher to do, but use a spoon to carefully spread it out as best you can. Using a knife, swirl the batter down the center of the loaf pan. Avoid over-swirling, which will mix the layers together too much.

5. Bake for 55–65 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent the top from getting too brown. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs. All ovens vary, so begin checking every 5 minutes around the 55-minute mark.

6. Remove bread from the oven and allow the bread to cool in the pan set on a wire rack for 1 hour. Remove bread from the pan and cool bread directly on the wire rack until cooled completely.

7. Whisk the icing ingredients together. (I usually use heavy cream, which promises a thick icing.) Drizzle over bread before slicing.

8. Cover and store banana bread at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Icing seeps into the top of the banana bread over time, so expect the tops of the slices to become a little moist.