The Delicious Ingredient That'll Take Homemade Banana Bread To The Next Level

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Banana bread is an excellent way to utilize overripe fruit to the fullest extent of its deliciousness. A basic recipe requires simple ingredients, which typically include mashed bananas, baking soda, sugar, eggs, all-purpose flour, and either melted butter or oil. Some variations also include vanilla extract and spices like cinnamon. There are plenty of additional ingredients to improve your banana bread, ranging from minimal to luxurious. For a truly unforgettable loaf that's loaded with flavor, swirl a hearty helping of cookie butter into your next banana bread recipe.

With so many ways to use cookie butter, mixing this delightfully decadent spread made from a mash of spiced shortbread cookies is practically a no-brainer. Much like peanut butter, Lotus Biscoff Cookie Butter Spread comes in either crunchy or creamy varieties and makes an out-of-this-world addition to your banana bread. The flavor from the warming spices and rich texture mixed with the dense and fruity ripe bananas is a match made in dessert heaven.Whether you choose Trader Joe's Speculoos or Lotus Biscoff (or any other of your favorite brands of cookie butter), the benefits of this ingredient upgrade are clear. You will need approximately half a cup of cookie butter spread for a bread made with no more than three bananas to achieve a proper density and consistency. The possibilities for this ingredient addition do not stop there, though.

A swirl of cookie butter will definitely bring your banana bread to new heights of great taste and crave-worthy texture, but there is a lot more you can do with this fun dessert spread. Change up the texture by using crunchy cookie butter instead of creamy to swirl with your mashed bananas. You can also consider the possibilities for incorporating the ingredient as topping for your freshly baked banana bread. Simply warm up the cookie butter for a thin glaze and drizzle it over your loaf. If you want a thicker and more substantial glaze, mix approximately 2 tablespoons of creamy cookie butter with a few tablespoons of whole milk, ¾ cup of powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt and spread this over your baked and cooled banana bread. Top all of this off with crunchy pieces of your favorite cookies for a garnish that's as amusing to look at as it is to eat.

Given the complementary warming spices present in cookie butter, you can let this inspire the seasonings you add to your banana bread batter. Add some extra ginger or cinnamon for even more of a spicy treat, or throw in some butterscotch or peanut butter chips to create more creamy richness in your dessert. With sweets like these, always remember that sharing is caring.