Chocolate banana bread
Everyone has a weakness. For Superman it was kryptonite; Achilles had his heel. For me, it’s chocolate. Not all chocolate makes me weak in the knees, but a top-quality dark chocolate, usually filled with some kind of nut, will make me swoon. Couple that with a baked delicacy, mix it with bananas and it’s a straight shot to my heart. When I stumbled upon this recipe it was love at first sight. All the aforementioned ingredients were listed and I came across the dish right before teatime. Needless to say, teatime was delayed by an hour to accommodate baking, but the wait was totally worth it.
Unlike the original recipe, I made a “guilt-free” loaf, substituting the sugars and fats, but with most substitutions there were consequences. The loaf rose wonderfully, but once it was cooled it sunk in a bit due to the density of the bananas and yogurt I swapped in for the butter and sugar. So as long as you aren’t going for an aesthetically pleasing masterpiece, and are accepting of a bittersweet dark chocolate loaf, this is the recipe for you. Or use the original!
Chocolate banana bread
Adapted from http://www.acouplecooks.com/2014/10/chocolate-banana-bread/”>A Couple Cooks
Yields 1 loaf
Ingredients:
- ½ cup walnuts
- 5 very ripe bananas
- ½ cup yogurt
- 1 large egg
- 4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan.
- Chop ½ cup walnuts.
- Mash bananas in the bottom of a large bowl. Whisk yogurt into the bananas along with 1 egg, and 4 teaspoons vanilla extract.
- Add 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 cup all-purpose flour, and ½ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder to the bowl and stir together with a spoon.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and top with chopped walnuts.
- Bake 55 to 65 minutes, until a tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert it onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. The bread keeps up to 4 days at room temperature wrapped in foil.