Dark Chocolate Banana Bread

Last week I got some organic bananas, but I was eating so many apples for breakfast, I didn’t quite get them all used.  They were still edible today, but they won’t be good for much longer.  I can’t finish them all, so I had a couple options.  I could freeze them.  I could dry them, but it’s fall and what’s better than a warm bread fresh from the oven.

There are so many great things that you can add to banana bread!  You can make it moist and dark, or crumbly and light with a creamy icing or streusel topping.  Today I wanted something dark.  I definitely choose right with this recipe; when I opened the oven to check on it, the cinnamon slammed me right in the face.

My favorite part of this bread is the dark chocolate chips.  Regular chocolate chips will do if that’s what you have on hand.  The dark chocolate ones give this bread a decadence that almost feels sinful for breakfast.  Unlike milk chocolate, they make you slow down and savor every bite.  This is great for me, because I don’t need to have self-control if it’s built in!  Breakfast breads are one of my favorite things to take to brunch.  They require no work the day of the event, but you’ve done a little more work than stopping by Panara on the way to the party.  A little bit of soft cheese with this bread makes it an entire meal.

I love to add extra veggies to my baking now.  I started doing it a while ago.  We don’t get enough veggies in our diets unless we make an effort to do so.  It doesn’t really happen that we wake up and say, “Wow, I could go for some peas with dinner.”  Most of the meals my husband and I eat include meat and potatoes, noodles or rice.  Sometimes I’ll have a real craving for a certain veggie, or there are great deals on one of them at the store.  I have to be really careful not to buy vegetables that just end up in the trash the next week.  Adding a vegetable to the bread, brownies or cookies I bake lets us get a few more servings of veggies in every week.  Carrots are one of my favorites to add to baked goods.  They’re already sweet, they don’t mess with the texture of the recipe, and they’re usually cheap too.  My little ninja chopper only takes a few seconds to shred them to the point they barely even show up in the end product.  Adding the veggies does make the loaf a little more moist.  I don’t mind this at all.

You’ll Need:

1 loaf pan

Baking spray, parchment paper, or another method to grease and flour your pan

1 large mixing bowl

1 small mixing bowl

Whisk, mixer, or other stirring method of your choice

Rubber spatula

Makes 1 loaf

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 325.
2. Peel bananas and place in large mixing bowl.
3. Mash bananas until they look like baby food.
4. Measure out flour, salt, baking powder and soda into smaller bowl.
5. Add butter, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, molasses and egg to large bowl with bananas. Stir until mixed.
6. Add sugar to large mixing bowl. Cream well.
7. Pour flour into larger mixing bowl. Stir until combined.
8. Using a rubber spatula, fold in carrots, walnuts and chocolate chips.
9. Prepare the loaf pan. Oil and flour the pan, spray with baking spray or line with parchment paper.  I usually use oil and flour.  I do not usually have issues removing my bread.
10. Pour the mixture into the bread pan. Be sure there is at least ½ inch of space left at the top of your pan.  If your pan is filled more than this amount, it will likely bubble over.
11. Bake for approximately 1 hr, or until you can stab the center of your loaf with a toothpick and it comes out clean.
12. Allow the loaf to cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes. Use a butter knife, a rubber spatula or an icing spatula to loosen the edges of the bread from the pan.  Flip the pan over and gently pull loaf from the pan.
13. Allow the loaf to cool completely before cutting it, or your loaf’s center will fall. It will cool more evenly if you place it on a baking rack.

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