Recipe: Walnut chocolate chip banana bread

While staying at my parents’ house over the Easter long weekend, there was a lot of baking and cooking being done. From breads, to desserts, to a full-on turkey dinner, we had enough food to feed our family of seven about four times over. It seems a little excessive but that’s the norm. I had brought one of my favourite baking books home with me and came across a chocolate-walnut banana bread. It would be a sin not to make it.

The bread isn’t super sweet like a banana bread usually is. Instead it’s deliciously packed with chocolate and walnuts to give it a little pizazz.  It was a hit for our tea-time snacks, and my two-year old nephew devoured his piece, which is the highest level of praise I could ask for!

RELATED: Homemade challah bread

Chocolate-walnut banana bread

INGREDIENTS: 

• 1 ¾ cup flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• good pinch of salt
• ½ cup sugar
• 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 large bananas (or three medium)
• ½ cup dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease a loaf tin with butter and lightly flour. Shake out any excess flour and set aside.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a bowl. Add the melted butter and eggs, stir to combine.
3. Roughly mash the bananas with a fork, leaving some lumpy bits for texture and add to the flour mixture.
4. Add the chocolate and walnuts, and mix into the batter until thoroughly combined.
5. Transfer the mixture into the loaf pan and spread evenly. Bake for 55 minutes, until the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
6. Leave to cool for five minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.