Chocolate Banana Bread

I have a recipe for banana bread that I basically know off the top of my head. I've been making it for such a long time now. I usually make it when I have some bananas that are getting a little overripe (which apparently is pretty often). I got it from The Book of Bread. I never realized that the book was by Judith Jones of Julia Child fame until quite recently. So little wonder there are such good recipes in it.

I decided to change it up a little this time and make it chocolate banana bread (besides the name of this blog is about chocolate and I haven't posted one recipe with chocolate yet!).

Chocolate Banana Bread

4 T butter (softened)
3/4 c sugar
3 medium bananas
1 egg (room temperature)
1/3 c yogurt (room temperature)
1t vanilla
1 3/4 c flour
1/4 c cocoa powder
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 c chocolate chips (I'm usually a little more generous than that)

Grease a loaf pan. Cream butter and sugar together. While butter is creaming, in a separate bowl mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. To the creamed butter and sugar, add the bananas and mix until bananas are mashed. Beat in egg, yogurt, and vanilla.

Gradually add flour mixture to wet mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into loaf pan.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes before turning out on a cooling rack.

I did not use a loaf pan. I used a tea loaf pan from King Arthur Flour. I like this pan because it makes a slightly smaller slice and then when I have two slices instead of just one, I can rationalize that they are smaller slices.

If you want to make non-chocolate banana bread, omit the cocoa powder and add 1/4 c of flour. There are also some people who would not put the chocolate chips in and use 1 c of chopped pecans instead but I'm not one of them!

Comments

New Kid on the Block

So here's a picture of the new kid on the block. Ain't she a beauty? It's a Blomberg . They are fairly new to the US. They have been around in Europe for quite a while. I really liked the design. I've been dying to have a freezer on the bottom. With the old refrigerator I would constantly lose brain cells by hitting my head on the freezer will poking around in the refrigerator. It really makes sense to have the refrigerator on top - that is where you spend most of your time. When we bought the old one, it was an emergency situation. The prior one was leaking on the floor and was no longer cooling. Fifteen years ago the freezer on the bottom was just starting to get popular but we were in no situation to wait for delivery. We had to take what they had on hand. Now the freezer on the bottom is by no means unique. What is - is this freezer's design. There are 3 compartments in the freezer. I used to have a chest freezer in the basement and everything would get los

Mr. Boston

Since we were discussing cocktails, I thought I would discuss Mr. Boston . The Sous Chef has his father's Mr. Boston and then the girls one year for Christmas got him the new version. They are different enough that you need to keep both of them. We had once thought about working our way through the book but then decided that probably wasn't a good idea. We have found some really tasty treats though. Old Mr. Boston/New Mr. Boston Here is one of them: Banana Foster (from New Mr. Boston) 2 scoops vanilla ice cream 1 1/2 oz spiced rum 1/2 oz banana liqueur 1 medium banana cinnamon Combine ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into a large glass and sprinkle with cinnamon I guess there is one improvement with the new Mr. Boston - the index is a bit better. In the old version, you cannot look up the drink by name. You can only look it up by liquor - which doesn't really help you out if you don't know what is in say a grasshopper and just want

Almond & Jam Tarts

These are quite impressive looking but very easy to make - especially if you buy ground almonds. The really nice part is that you just press the dough into the tart pans. The only rolling is for the cut outs. Peach Jam Currant Jam Almond & Jam Tarts (Adapted from Bon Appetit ) Makes 2 tarts 7 oz (approx 2 cups) Ground Almonds or Hazelnuts* 4 1/2 c flour 2 1/4 t kosher salt 1 1/2 t baking powder 2 t nutmeg 1 1/2 c sugar 3 sticks butter 6 T heavy cream 3 egg yolks 1 t almond extract 1 Earl Grey tea bag 1 1/2 c apricot jam** 1 1/2 c plum jam** 2 t orange zest 1 egg 1/4 c raw sugar Mix almonds, flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg in a bowl. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg yolks, cream, and almond extract. Mix well. Gradually add flour/almond mixture and mix until combined. Divide dough into 3 equal parts, flatten 1 into disk and chill for at least 1 hour. Press the remaining two doughs into tart pans cover and chill.

Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

Search This Blog