Bananas Foster Bread

Ok so if you know me, you know I LOVE banana bread. However, more than that, I love banana anything. Over the past year I've been experiencing with different classic recipes with amped up banana flavor like bananas foster pancakes, and sweet potato and banana mash (with a little maple syrup and walnuts - yum). I recently came across a recipe for a lighter banana bread with a bananas foster twist that I just had to try and it came out amazingly well. For those of you (like me) that go to places like Yankee Candle to get candles to make your house smell like the fall, avoid the mall and make bread. Seriously, my house has never smelled so good!

Preheat the oven to 350 and coat a 9"x5" loaf pan with cooking spray. Create the banana mixture:

• 1 1/2 cups mashed banana (3 bananas)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 5 tablespoons of melted earthsmart butter replacement 
• 3 tablespoons cognac 

and place it all in a non-stick skillet. Cook the banana mixture over medium heat just until the mixture starts to bubble and then immediately remove from heat and cool.

Add the banana mixture to a large bowl and add in:

• 1/3 cup silk plain yogurt, 
• 2 eggs
•  1/2 cup of packed brown sugar 

beat on medium speed until it's completely mixed.

In a separate bowl, measure out:

•  6.75 ounces of all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
•  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice. 

Add the flour mixture to the to the banana mixture and mix until it is just incorporated (dear god, don't over mix this batter).

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for about an hour (I took mine out at around 55 minutes - just check with a toothpick). Once it's out of the oven, put the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes and then remove from pan so it can cool directly on the cooling rack.

Now it's glaze time! Take

• 1 tablespoon of melted earthsmart butter, 
• 1 tablespoon cognac, and 
• 1/3 cup of powdered sugar

 and whisk until smooth. Pour this glaze over the warm bread. You can still do this after the bread has cooled but it won't be completely the same. When you pour that glaze over the warm bread, it seeps into the loaf adding an extra dimension of moisture and greatness.