Crumb Topped Banana Bread with Toffee and Chocolate Chunks

I like banana bread.  It isn't glamorous.  Instead, it's comforting and familiar.  I am excited whenever I have a few bananas that become too brown because it's the perfect excuse to make bread.

Given my affinity for banana bread, I have already posted a few versions on my blog.  This banana bread, with its crumb topping and chocolate chunks, is particularly decadent.  

I made a chocolate banana muffin with peanut butter chips, which is a favorite.  My coconut, blueberry, and chocolate banana bread is another honorable mention.  

I wish I had a thick slice of this banana bread right not, but I ate it all last week.  This week I'm eating oatmeal for breakfast.  Oatmeal may be more nutritious, but I miss the buttery crumb topping and chocolate toffee chunks.  I just envisioned oatmeal with a crumb topping. Ingenious!  

The bread recipe came from allrecipes.  I added ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, chocolate chunks, and cashews.   I added less mashed banana because my bananas were too small.  The crumb topping recipe came from food.com.  I halved the recipe, but I still had too much topping.

The ingredients for the bread are 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 2 beaten eggs, 2 cups mashed bananas, 1/2 cup chopped Toffee and Almonds Hershey's Nuggets, and 1/2 cup chopped cashews.

The ingredients for the topping are 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 3/8 cup brown flour, 3/8 cup oatmeal, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/8 teaspoon salt.  These are the quantities I used, but I had crumb topping left over.

I added the flour, baking soda, and salt into a big bowl.

I added the cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg to the same bowl.

I whisked the dry ingredients.

In another bowl, I creamed the sugar and softened butter together.

I stirred the eggs and mashed bananas into the creamed butter and sugar.

I poured the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

I chopped and added the Heresy's Nuggets and cashews.  A half a cup of nuggets is about 8 little bars.  I stirred the batter until there were no lumps of flour.

I poured the batter into a greased 9 by 5 inch loaf pan.

For the crumb topping, I added the sugar, flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl.  It was dirty because I used the banana bread bowl.

I stirred the ingredients together with my hands.  Why? Sometimes it's fun to play with your food.

I mashed the butter into the oatmeal mixture until coarse crumbs formed.

I precariously piled the oatmeal crumble on top of the bread.

The recipe says to bake the bread for 60 to 65 minutes at 350 degrees.  My loaf pan is thick, and I always need additional baking time.

I let it cool a little, and then I jumped in.

Superb!  It was aromatic and tender.  I could taste subtle and desirable warmth from the spices.  

 The chocolate pieces become pools of sweetness.  The nuts give the bread some texture.

The crumb topping is what really makes this bread stand out.  It was brown, crisp, and buttery.  The brown sugar gives it a richer flavor than white sugar.

This recipe was a success!