One of the most loved recipes by all dessert lovers, and one thing people seem to like to do to change it up is to add chocolate chips to it. That’s sort of a no-brainer, right?
Dear banana bread lovers, putting chocolate chips in your banana bread is like having your bananas and chocolate go on a date. Lovely and sweet, yet still separate and distinct. After a while both want something more—a merging of wills, a commitment!
Well, if chocolate and banana were going to do the deed, this would be the result—a richly chocolate banana bread, infused with cocoa, speckled with chocolate chips, with warm hints of butter, vanilla, and allspice.
Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 1 hour Yield: Makes one 9x5-inch loaf
Do not use Dutch processed cocoa for this recipe, only natural unsweetened.
Melted coconut oil can be used in place of the butter. The flavour will change a little and you may get a hint of coconut in the result.
There is only 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of baking soda in this recipe for leavening, so make sure your baking soda is still good! (See more info on baking soda and baking powder.)
Ingredients
3 large ripe bananas (easily mashable)
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar (packed, light or dark)
1 teaspoon salt (1/2 a teaspoon if using salted butter)
1 large egg, beaten1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 5x9-inch loaf pan
1 Using a blender, food processor, or a fork, purée the peeled ripe bananas until smooth. You should have 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups of banana purée. Butter or spray with cooking spray the inside of a 5x9-inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) with a rack in the middle.
2 Place the banana purée into a large mixing bowl. Stir the melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar and salt. Whisk to break up any clumps of brown sugar. Stir in the beaten egg and vanilla extract.
3 In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and allspice.
4 Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5 Pour batter into a buttered loaf pan. Place in a 350°F (175°C) oven and bake for 1 hour. Note that because of the chocolate chips that melt in the bread as it cooks, it's hard to check for doneness using a tester that you insert. One way to test is to gently push the center top of the chocolate banana bread down with your finger. If it feels relatively firm and bounces back when you release your finger, that's a good sign that it's done.
6 Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Gently remove the loaf from the pan and place on a rack to cool completely. Slice with a serrated bread knife to serve.
Enjoy it!
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