White Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

At work the other day, one of my co-workers (and dear friends) was enthusiastically recommending a book to me. The book is called "Eat Cake" and it is written by Jeanne Ray. She said that she thought of me the whole time she was reading it, not because of my similarity to any of the characters, but because of the interesting recipes included in the book. Sweet potato bundt cake, upside-down pear gingerbread cake- evidently the heroine has an affinity for crazy combinations and according to my friend, so do I. I have to say, I'm really looking forward to reading this book now. The story line seems so interesting and I love new recipes and flavor combinations. I can definitely see myself making that sweet potato cake sometime in the near future...

Now, as for how crazy MY recipes are, I'm not so sure. I definitely took it as a compliment, but I think the teacher in me gravitates towards things I think will be crowd-pleasers. I might tweak them a little bit to make them unique and different, but my hope is that everyone will enjoy them. Take this recipe, for example. I think most people love banana bread (I know I do!). It's a total comfort food- and everyone seems to have their favorite version. Most often, it's the recipe that their mother or grandmother made for them growing up. I decided not to go the traditional route. My mom was a banana bread purist- just bananas, no extra stuff. Instead, I decided to add some white chocolate and a hint of cinnamon. The white chocolate really complements the flavor of the banana and I think the cinnamon adds a little subtle something extra. I also sprinkled the top with some coarse raw sugar to give it a little texture and crunch. Yum!

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup bananas, mashed (about 2 medium)
1 cup white chocolate chips
Demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Butter and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
-Sift the flour, baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon together in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
-Cream together the softened butter and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy.
-Add the vanilla and the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.
-Add the flour mixture and blend ingredients together until only just combined.
-Stir in the banana and white chocolate chips. Blend mixture until ingredients are fully incorporated.
-Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle with the demerara sugar and a little cinnamon.
-Bake in preheated oven until loaf is golden brown and tester comes out clean, about 1 hour.
-After removing it from the oven, allow loaf to cool in pan for 20-30 minutes.
-Remove bread from pan and set on a cooling rack.
-Once fully cool, slice and serve.