Chocolate Banana Bread

So what’s a girl to do when a chocolate craving hits and you look around your kitchen and see a pile of over-ripe bananas and chocolate chips? Make chocolate banana bread of course! I was sick for a little over a week…which was the worst. Actually the worst part was when I broke out in hives over my entire body due to an allergic reaction from medication! Yeah…that was attractive! It finally went away after 5 days…yay! Anyways – I was feeling bad for myself and knew the only cure that would suffice was through chocolate. And it helped. Oh yes it did.

Here’s what you’ll need: flour, sugar, bananas, butter, eggs, vanilla, orange juice, and chocolate chips. Yum.

And here’s what you have to do – in a medium/large bowl mix together the butter (softened to room temp) and the sugar – I used the handheld mixer b/c it’s easier to clean than the big standing mixer. Blend those together for a few minutes (3-5) until the butter/sugar is whipped and lightened in color.

Then to save myself the time of cleaning another bowl, I made a well in the butter/sugar bowl and added the three eggs and whipped them. Then add the orange juice and vanilla to the well and incorporate. After those items get mixed you should mix the butter/sugar together as well.

Now it’s time to add the bananas – I was lazy again and just added the bananas to the bowl and mixed until the bananas were mashed. You can mash the bananas separately before adding to the sugar/butter/eggs – but my bananas were so ripe they mixed in perfectly.

Then get the dry ingredients together – mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl. Almost done…

Pour the dry mixture in 2 batches into the batter and mix on low speed until incorporated.

Stir in the chocolate chips…I used ¾ c. of chocolate chips – I kind of wished I had added a little more – so I would suggest 1 cup of chocolate chips. I like an equal ratio of chocolate to all of the other ingredients. Call me crazy.

Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Cover the pan lightly with foil if the top starts to get too brown. And then eat. Eat it with butter spread on top. Yes, I went there. And allow your chocolate cravings to evaporate slowly with each bite. Enjoy!

Chocolate Banana Bread
6 servings
Click here for recipe – adapted from Melissa d’Arabian

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs, slightly beaten
3 T. orange juice
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), plus extra for greasing the pan, at room temperature
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup mini chocolate chips
Equipment: 1 1/2-quart loaf pan

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium/large bowl mix together the butter (softened to room temp) and the sugar – blend those together for a few minutes (3-5) until the butter/sugar is whipped and lightened in color.
3. Then to save myself the time of cleaning another bowl, I made a well in the butter/sugar bowl and added the three eggs and whipped them. Then add the orange juice and vanilla to the well and incorporate. After those items get mixed you should mix the butter/sugar together as well.
4. Now it’s time to add the bananas – add the bananas to the bowl and mixed until the bananas were mashed. You can mash the bananas separately before adding to the sugar/butter/eggs – but my bananas were so ripe they mixed in perfectly.
5. Mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.
6. Pour the dry mixture in 2 batches into the wet batter and mix on low speed until incorporated.
7. Stir in the chocolate chips…stir lightly until incorporated.
8. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake 1 hour. Cover the pan lightly with foil if the top starts to get too brown.

Enjoy!