Banana Blackberry Buttermilk Bread

Wow that’s alotta B’s. They were inspired by this month’s berrylicious 12 Loaves Challenge over at Cake Duchess.

I chose blackberries to add to this bread (they were staring me down in the local produce section) and topped it with a layer of cinnamon sugar before baking.  This was a very easy recipe to throw together and a great solution if you have browning bananas and leftover buttermilk in the fridge. Instead of the berries, nuts would also work well.

The result was a juicy, flavorful quick bread  perfect for breakfast or snack time.

• 2 cups flour plus 1/3 cup for dredging blackberries
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup butter) softened
• 1+1/2 cups white granulated sugar plus 1/3 for cinnamon topping
• 2 eggs room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3 ripe mashed bananas
• 1+1/2 cups fresh blackberries
• 1/8 cup ground cinnamon

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Spray or grease a medium size loaf pan.
• Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
• Dredge the blackberries in the 1/3 cup flour (to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the bread) and set aside.
• In a small bowl whisk together 1/3 cup sugar and the cinnamon and set aside.
• Cream together butter and sugar.
• Add eggs and incorporate throughly.
• Add vanilla and buttermilk.
• Mix in bananas.
• Slow mixer down to low speed and slowly add in  the flour.
• When flour has been mixed in, stop mixer and stir in the flour dredged blackberries.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top.
• Bake for one hour or until a cake tester or knife inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
• Remove for the oven and let the bread stand 15 minutes before removing from the pan.
• Transfer to a wire rack and let cool almost completely before slicing and serving. This bread is extra delicious served a bit warm.