Salted Peanut and Caramel Banana Bread

Marrying banana bread with the upbeat flavor duo of salty and sweet (peanuts and caramel) demonstrates how classic baking can become cutting edge with a few twists and tweaks.

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
3½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup shredded coconut
2/3 cup chopped salted peanuts
½ cup toffee bits, or caramel or butterscotch chips

SALTED PEANUT CARAMEL TOPPING
¼ cup shredded sweetened coconut
½ cup chopped salted peanuts
¼ cup toffee bits, or caramel or butterscotch chips
2 tablespoons caramel sundae topping

Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously spray a 12-cup Bundt pan or two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. Place on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet.

In a mixer bowl, cream the butter with the sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, then vanilla, yogurt and mashed bananas, scraping down often to blend batter evenly.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet batter. Fold in coconut, peanuts, and toffee, caramel or butterscotch chips, making sure ingredients are well blended, 1 to 2 minutes. Spoon into baking pan.

To make the Salted Peanut Caramel Topping，mix coconut, peanuts, and toffee, caramel or butterscotch chips in a small bowl. Sprinkle on top of cake. Drizzle on caramel. Bake 50 to 55 minutes, until cake tests done. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan, and drizzle on more caramel, if desired. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

source: CostcoConnection