Upgrade Your Banana Bread With Cream Cheese Frosting

Banana bread is a classic and totally customizable recipe. Dried fruit, chocolate chips, and nuts are just a few of the many possible banana bread mix-ins. The baked good even tastes good with peanut butter swirled throughout the mixture or a streusel crumble on top. Any way you slice it, you can't go wrong. Truly, nothing beats a freshly baked loaf of banana bread — except maybe when it's topped with cream cheese frosting.

If you're on the hunt for new ways to upgrade your loaf, however, consider cream cheese frosting as a sweet and smooth addition to each bite. Cream cheese is the ideal pairing for a loaf of banana bread because of its characteristic tangy flavor that pairs well with the nutty and subtly fruity banana notes. Plus, just when you didn't think your breakfast bread could get any more moist, cream cheese frosting swoops in to provide some extra rich creaminess. The idea is reminiscent of a classic banana cake recipe, which also uses this unique frosting for the perfect finishing touch.

Whether you're using a rich cream cheese frosting on banana bread, carrot cake, or another baked good, there are some tips to follow for the perfect topper. A true cream cheese frosting recipe, depending on how much you make, typically has one to two cups of powdered sugar as a base. It may sound like a lot, but this amount is essential for a luscious whipped frosting. If you're concerned that the result may be too sweet for your tastebuds, you could always cut back on, remove, or swap the sugar quantity that the banana bread recipe calls for. Overripe bananas are already very sweet so you have that element as part of the recipe, since, as the fruit ripens, its starch content breaks down into sugars. 

Once you have your frosting made and your bread is nice and warm, another tip is to wait for the loaf to cool all the way down before spreading the frosting on top. If the bread is too warm, its temperature will melt the frosting or slightly alter its consistency. In order for the cream cheese frosting to stay fluffy, have patience. You can never rush perfection!