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Sometimes you walk into the kitchen and a smell assails your nose. If it’s a good day, then it’ll be a delicious aroma, rather than the smell of an ailing bin…. Earlier this week, I walked into the kitchen to find that my bananas had ripened to a state of blackened and very smelly ripeness; perfect for making banana bread.
Usually I make plain banana bread, adorned only with some rum-soaked raisins or sultanas. However, I’m all out of rum at the moment. What I did have handy, however, was a bag of plain chocolate chips. I thought about just throwing them into the batter, but then remembered that I’d seen a marbled bread recipe in Cooking Light.
This bread is very quick and easy to make. The only slightly tricky part was marbling the mixture–I didn’t manage that very well, as you can see from the picture. One end of the loaf ended up as mostly chocolate and the middle is rather thin on chocolate goodness. Anyone got some good tips on creating nice even swirls?
Both the banana and chocolate flavours turned out very intensely, but yet balanced each other out nicely. The crumb is very moist and tender, thanks in part to the acidity of the yogurt. I’ve just followed the serving suggestion from Cooking Light (toasting a slice and smearing it with peanut butter) and that was really decadent. Chocolate and peanut is one of my favourite flavour combinations, but I don’t think I’ve tried peanut butter and banana before. And the combination of all three flavours is simply delicious!
Marbled-Chocolate Banana Bread
From Cooking Light, 2004 Annual
2 cups all-purpose flour (spoon and level method)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1/2 cup plain chocolate chips
Butter for greasing tin
2 lb loaf tin (8″ x 4″)
Preheat oven to 350F/180C/Gas Mark 4. Grease the tin.
Cream butter and sugar together until well combined. This won’t look like a traditional mixture due to the lower proportion of butter to regular loaf mixes.
Mix flour, soda and salt together. Don’t bother sifting.
Add eggs, bananas and yogurt to the creamed mixture. Melt the chocolate chips, in a medium bowl, in the microwave for one minute on HIGH. Stir the chocolate until completely melted. Leave to cool whilst you finish the batter.
Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture. Mix well, scraping bottom and sides of bowl. Scoop out a cup of this mixture and blend it into the melted chocolate.
Place alternating spoonfuls of the chocolate and plain mixtures in the loaf tin. (This made two layers when I made it.) Swirl batters together using a knife, making sure you go into all corners.
Bake for one hour. A skewer inserted should come out clean.
Cool in tin for ten minutes, then remove and cool completely on a rack.
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A bread machine will make a very nice swirl! The trick is to add the chocolate chips just 2minutes before end of the kneading cycle. (you have to select your cycle carefully, and notice the timer setting on a prior load!).
Then use a wooden spoon, holding it along side of the mixing paddle, to cause the dough to fold upon itself.
Keep intercepting the ball of dough, such that the paddle folds it in upon itself.
In one minute all the chips will be embedded into the dough ball!
Don’t put the chocolate chips in prior to 2 minutes , else they will all melt and the swirl is lost. And the flavor is much, much less intense!
Yum! You should enter this recipe in the banana bread contest here:
http://thenewstayathomemom.com/moist-banana-bread-recipe-contest
Winner gets $50 from Sur La Table plus links back to your site!
blessings,
Shauna
I’ve searched near and far for the best banana bread recipe, as I often “accidentally” let bunches of bananas go ripe (aw darn…gotta use them up – time to make banana bread!)
I always end up coming back to this recipe. It makes an incredibly moist and fluffy loaf that I haven’t quite been able to get with other recipes. I like to play around with small additions (vanilla extract, amaretto, banana liquor…) Using Yoplait banana cream pie flavored yogurt instead of plain is the best way to achieve an overdose of banana-y goodness.
Even when I don’t have the chocolate chips on hand, this bread is delicious with a just a hint of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.
Thanks so much for this one! It’s staying in my recipe box for good!