Lavender-infused banana bread

Decadence at it's finest. And least fattening, may I add? 


For the bread:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter
6 ounces plain, whole-milk yogurt
2 eggs, room temperature
3 ripe bananas, lightly mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons dried lavender

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a bread pan with parchment paper.

First, cook 2 tablespoons of the lavender on high heat for about a minute until it begins to release scent. Then, turn the heat down to medium-low and add the butter to the pan. Allow to cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Make sure not to burn the butter! Finally, strain the infused butter through a sieve. Reserve about 1/2 teaspoon of the cooked lavender.  

In a medium bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, salt, and sugar. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, yogurt, and vanilla. Add the infused butter. Fold in the mashed banana and 1/2 teaspoon of cooked lavender. Gradually fold in the flour mixture. Pour the batter into the bread pan. 

Bake for 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. 

While the bread is cooking, make the lavender syrup. In a small saucepan on medium heat, make a simple syrup with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water. Whisk to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved, add in the remaining 1 tablespoon of lavender. Cook for about a minute, until you can smell the lavender. Once the bread is finished cooking, pour the simple syrup over the bread. If there is any syrup left, cut the bread into slices and soak the slices in the syrup!

My recipe. Hells yeah.