The first thing Elliana says to me each morning is, “momma, I wana be a princess“. That’s it. No good morning. No hi. Just that she wants to be a princess. What does this mean? Well, this girl, our fourth child, with three older brothers likes to dress up like a princess in dresses, tiaras, necklaces and heels. And what princess is complete without her own unicorn?!

This little miss is quite frankly the cutest thing ever, when she is happy. Have you ever seen a redhead cry? It is not cute, is not fun, and it’s not pretty. She gets all blotchy and sad and whimpery and the tears are falling, and snot is coming. So, when little miss Elliana wanted to make this sprinkle-filled Unicorn Bread, that she saw over my shoulder while scrolling on Pinterest, I could hardly say no!

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Published November 18, 2021
Updated March 24, 2022
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A Princess and her 3 Brothers

Having three sons, ages 12, 9, and 5, I always felt our family was not complete. When Elliana was born to us in 2019, the feeling of our family being complete came to fruition. Little did we know that she would become this adorable little redhead who takes command of a room. She can bend your will by just saying “please” and giving an adorable well-timed smile. Elliana will be three in February, and I cannot imagine ever having our family without her.

Lately, she is all about unicorns, princesses and anything sparkly. So, when I said aloud, “unicorn bread”, she immediately said, “momma let’s make it!” Little did she realize that it actually had to bake and rest to cool before she could eat it. But eat it we did! It was sweet, without being overly sweet. It was colorful, without being too vibrant and overly pink so our boys would not try any. By the time they all got off the bus and had an after-school snack, there was not much left of the famed unicorn bread.

Having three sons and then a daughter has sure been a ride. Like her brothers, Elliana is not afraid to get dirty. She picks up bugs and likes to fart then laugh. However, when it comes to playtime, she is still all about the tea parties and dresses. Oh, the dresses, every day.

While we were in Florida last year, she literally picked up a 5-inch centipede. Guys, this thing was huge. She has no fear. And two minutes later literally was hitting a brother for walking off and not telling us they continued to walk while we stopped to look at this little lady with her bug. Then, the next day, she was posing in her swimsuit.

Cost to make this recipe

Below is a cost breakdown to make this Unicorn Bread Recipe.

2 cups flour $0.30
1 tsp baking soda $0.03
1/2 tsp salt $0.01
1 cup sugar $0.29
1/2 cup butter $0.96
2 eggs $0.54
3 bananas $0.48

The total cost to make this recipe for Unicorn Bread is $2.61.
These prices are from 2021.

Unicorn Bread Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
3 bananas
Various food colorings
1 cup rainbow sprinkles

Icing Directions

2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp milk
1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles

Unicorn Bread Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a 9 X 5 loaf pan with non-stick spray and then set aside.

3. In a medium bowl whisk together 2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt and then set aside.
At 2 1/2 years old, Elliana is at the perfect age to learn how to hold measuring spoons and pour the contents into a bowl. Teaching kids how to cook and help in the kitchen is a skill they can use for a lifetime. Like the old saying, “you can give a guy a fish but if you teach him how to fish, he can eat for a lifetime”.

Teaching our kids to cook and bake will help them know how to do it when they are older! Maybe one of them will end up on a cooking show someday 🙂 Wouldn’t that be amazing!?

4. In the bowl of a KitchenAid mixer, beat together the 1/2 cup softened butter with 1 cup sugar until creamy. Using softened butter helps the sugar blend with the mixture into the batter much better than cold butter. To make this easier cut the butter into cubes before blending with the sugar.

I LOVE my vintage KitchenAid mixer! A good friend, who doesn’t bake, gifted it to me a few years ago. As a result, this white beauty gets used daily. If you do not have one, I highly recommend one as they make cooking and baking anything quick and easy.

5. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, mixing until each is completely incorporated.

6. Add the 3 bananas and mix on low until blended. Either use mashed bananas or very ripe bananas so they blend well with the ingredients. Elliana was so excited to add the bananas! It was much easier for her to drop them into the mixer than scoop out mashed bananas. If you use whole bananas, just mix it a little longer.

7. Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet in the KitchenAid bowl and blend on LOW until just combined. Do not over mix, however if needed, you can mix half of the dry mixture at a time until it is all mixed together.

8. Divide the batter into 3 separate bowls and then add a few drops of food coloring to each. We had only a yellow and blue on-hand, so voila- blue, yellow and green! Mix well!
Using NEON colors can be a way to make the colors so much more vibrant. Try green, purple and pink! Those three would be such a fun blend.

9. Stir 1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles into ONE of the Unicorn Bread batter bowls. By adding them to only one batter color, it gives such a fun surprise to the bread when cut into!

10. Using an ice cream scoop or measuring cup, scoop dollops of each color batter into the prepared loaf pan. Then add rainbow sprinkles over the batter after each layer, adding the sprinkles within the batter gives the bread a fun surprise in each cut!

11. Keep layering scoops of colored batter in a random order in the pan and finally top with any remaining rainbow sprinkles. Make sure to randomize how you lay the batter onto each other, so it creates a bigger range of patterns.

12. Bake for 45-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. By this time Elliana had already licked the mixer spatula! It must have been approving as her face was covered in mere minutes!

I love having our kids help in the kitchen. Teaching them to cook and bake is important to me. It is a goal to have them leave the house as young adults with a basic knowledge of how to feed themselves without relying on restaurants or pre-made meals. Not that there is anything essentially wrong with restaurants! I dabble every now-and-again with a spicy chicken sandwich from a quick drive-through…

13. Make the icing while the Unicorn Bread is baking or cooling! In a medium bowl mix together 2 cups powdered sugar, 3 Tbsp milk and 1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles, then set aside.

14. Remove the loaf pan from the oven when a toothpick is removed clean. Set aside until it is completely cool before you add the icing. Depending on your oven, you may have to bake the bread longer and 60 minutes. This loaf of Unicorn Bread had to be baked the full 65 minutes before a toothpick came out clean.
15. Once the Unicorn Bread has cooled, drizzle the icing over the bread and top with more rainbow sprinkles, slice and enjoy!

This bread was SO delicious! The resulting flavor had a minor banana flavor and was super moist. With the icing covering the entire bread, it provided a great way for the bread to stay moist. Making a powdered sugar icing helped it too not be overly sweet. Each slice that was cut from the bread was different than the last. Some had huge pockets of rainbow sprinkles, and each had various color blends.

Each of our kids really loved the flavor of this bread. If you want, when you are mixing the egg into the sugar and butter mixture, feel free to add any variety of extract to flavor the bread you want. Vanilla, caramel, lemon, almond, raspberry, really any extract flavor would give this bread a nice pop of flavor!
~Monica

Recipe for Unicorn Bread

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