Spiced Banana Bread with Crumb Topping

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease loaf pan with butter and line with parchment paper.

For the crumb topping:
In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and pecan pieces. Use a pastry blender or 2 forks to cut in the cold butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

For the banana bread:
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and brown sugar. Mix in eggs, vanilla, and mashed bananas until well blended. Add flour and mix just until blended. Fold in the dried cranberries. Do not overmix. Batter will be lumpy.

Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan. Smooth top with back of a spatula.

Sprinkle a thin even layer of crumb topping over batter. Refrigerate leftover topping for another use.

Bake in preheated 350ºF oven for about 1 hour, or until a knife inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Cover with foil for the last 15-20 minutes of baking.

Cool 5-10 minutes in pan, then use parchment paper to lift bread out of pan. Cool on a wire rack, or slice and serve warm.