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Cinnamon Crunch Banana Bread

Cinnamon crunch banana bread with a thick, crackled cinnamon-brown sugar topping that shatters slightly when sliced, revealing a moist banana crumb. A bakery-style cinnamon streusel banana bread loaf baked until deeply golden and crunchy on top.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: American
Calories: 340
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Banana bread base
  • 3 bananas Ripe bananas, mashed until smooth.
  • 0.5 cup butter Melted for the batter.
  • 0.75 cup sugar Granulated sugar.
  • 2 eggs Large eggs, room temperature if possible.
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1.5 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 0.5 tsp cinnamon
For the cinnamon crunch topping
  • 0.3333 cup brown sugar
  • 1.5 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp butter Melted for the crumble.
  • 0.25 cup flour All-purpose or bread flour works for the crumble.
  • 1 salt Pinch.

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 oven

Method
 

Prep and preheat
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9x5 loaf pan, then set it aside for filling.
Make the cinnamon crunch topping
  1. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, melted butter, flour, and salt until crumbly, then set aside.
Mix the banana bread batter
  1. Whisk melted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla into mashed bananas until smooth.
  2. Fold in all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until just combined, leaving a thick batter.
Assemble and bake
  1. Pour the batter into the greased pan and sprinkle the cinnamon crunch topping generously and evenly over the top.
  2. Bake for 60–70 minutes at 350°F until the top is deeply golden and crunchy and a toothpick comes out clean from the center.

Notes

For the best crackly crust, use ripe bananas with visible speckling and sprinkle the crumble all the way to the edges so it forms a continuous topping. Store at room temperature, covered, for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 6 days; freeze slices for up to 2 months. For a lower-sugar option, replace up to half the granulated sugar with an equal amount of a 1:1 baking sweetener and keep the topping brown sugar as written for crunch.