Chocolate Banana Bread

Everyone’s had the typical banana bread, right?  Well, take that and kick it up about 10 notches.  Oh and of course, add some chocolate to that.  It pretty much takes the typical and moves it into the extraordinary!

If you happen to have some browning bananas, I would highly suggest transforming them into this spectacular creation of a banana bread.  I would even go as far as to hide bananas from my kids, in the hopes that they get brown fast enough to make this again.

Cream the butter and sugar.

Use two brown bananas and mash them in a bowl.

Add the mashed bananas and sour cream.

Whisk together all the dry ingredients, then add it to the wet.

Add the mini chocolate chips and walnuts, for extra sweetness and crunch.

Pour the batter into a greased 9×5 inch loaf pan.

Look at this warm chocolate beauty!  I like how those mini chocolate chips are peeking out, enticing you to come and pluck them out one by one.

I guarantee that after this banana bread comes out of the oven, the 10 minutes you need to wait for this to cool will be the longest 10 minutes of your life!!  Even though banana bread is thought of as more of a breakfast food, my family ended up eating it for dessert.  Yup, it’s that good!

Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe

From Savory Sweet Life

 

1 stick of salted butter, softened to room temp.

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

2 large ripened bananas mashed ( or 2.5 small bananas)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 Tbl. cocoa powder

1/2 cup of sour cream

1 cup of mini chocolate chips (regular chocolate chips work too)

optional 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

 

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease a 9×5 loaf pan, or 2 mini pans with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Stir in egg, mashed bananas, sour cream, and vanilla until well blended.

Add baking soda, cocoa, and flour.

Mix everything until well incorporated (about 3 minutes in a stand mixer).

Add chocolate chips and nuts (if applicable).

Pour batter into loaf pan(s) and bake for 50 minutes – 1 hr.

Insert a tooth pick into the center of the loaf and check to see if it comes out clean when you pull it out.

Remove from heat and allow bread to rest in the loaf pan for 10 minutes.

Invert the loaf pans onto a cooling rack. Enjoy warm or cold.

Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Muffins

Before I begin, YES, I do realize this is only my first post of this month and it’s already December 21st.  Does that tell you a little about my busy life right now?

Amongst all the normal preparations for Christmas…………..I’ve hosted and attended several parties……………Helped  my son with his science fair project……………..Attended weekly Bible Study……………..Helped the kids study for Chinese school midterm exams……………….Crocheted like crazy for Christmas gifts……………….Baked for neighbors…………and tried to remember to breathe.  Okay, enough with the excuses.  Let’s get to these muffins!

Is it bad that I hope my bananas go brown and mushy before my kids can eat them, just so I have a reason to bake these?  Well, after tasting these muffins, I would buy perfectly good bananas and let them go brown, just for this recipe!

Talk about moist and fluffy.  This definitely makes getting up in the morning a little easier.  Knowing these muffins are waiting for me in the kitchen, puts a little pep in my step in the morning!

Start by mashing your ripe bananas with a fork.

Mix and whisk all the dry ingredients together.

I felt that my hand mixer was getting a little jealous of my stand mixer, so I brought it out to play today.

After adding the dry ingredients to the wet, slowly fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Fill your paper liners 3/4 full and bake until your kitchen fills with the delectable smell of bananas and chocolate!

These muffins look even better sitting on this beautiful jade-green plate.  I got a set of these beautiful plates when my husband’s grandmother died this past summer.  They remind me of her and the colors of New Mexico, where she lived.

Thank you Grandma Katie, we love and miss you!

Moist Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Adapted from Curious Foodie

 

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup milk

2 small eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 20 muffin cups or line with muffin papers.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
3. Combine bananas, sugar, butter, milk, eggs and vanilla extract in a medium bowl with hand mixer
4. Mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Do not over-mix!
5. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.
6. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups, fill it till 3/4 full.
7. Bake until muffins are golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, for about 20-25 minutes. (10 to 15 minutes for miniature muffins)
8. Cool muffins in tray for 5 minutes before transferring muffins to cooling rack to cool completely.

Banana Pistachio Bread

 

This recipe came to me purely due to my non-wasteful nature (drilled into me by my parents saying, “Do you know there are starving children in China?!”). I don’t know if I saved any children in China, but my overly ripe bananas were saved, in a great way!

I’ve never used pistachios in banana bread before, but I was out of walnuts, so there you are. It was a nice surprise to see the way the pistachios gave the normally drab-looking brown bread some color. Those pops of greenish yellow made the bread look kind of exotic, I think. They also gave the bread a richer taste and texture. It was an overall success and none of the banana bread went to waste either.

 

Banana Pistachio Bread

5 tbsp butter, room temperature

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

2 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cups mashed, about 3 very ripe bananas

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking powder

½ cup heavy cream

1/3 cup chopped pistachios

 

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray bottom only of 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Beat butter in large bowl with an electric mixer set at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat well. Add egg, egg whites and vanilla; beat until well blended. Add mashed banana and beat on high speed for 30 seconds.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with cream, ending with flour mixture. Add pistachios to batter; mix well.

Pour batter evenly into prepared loaf pan. Bake until browned and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Cool bread in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan; cool completely on wire rack.