We all love a good chocolate chip cookie recipe, but have you ever tried chocolate chip banana bread? If not, we would strongly recommend that you take the opportunity to make it now - you'll be glad you did.
Ingredients
3 large ripe bananas (easily mashable)
⅓ cup melted butter
¾ cup brown sugar (packed, light or dark)
1 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon if using salted butter)
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Method
1. Butter or spray with cooking spray the inside of a 5x9-inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 175C.
2. Using a blender, food processor, or a fork, purée the peeled ripe bananas until smooth. You should have 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups of banana purée.
3. Place the banana purée into a large mixing bowl. Stir the melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar and salt. Whisk to break up any clumps of brown sugar. Stir in the beaten egg and vanilla extract.
4. In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and allspice. Add this to the wet ingredients and stir until just incorporated, then stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Pour the batter into a buttered loaf pan. Place in a 175C oven and bake for 1 hour. Because of the melting chocolate chips, it's hard to check for doneness using a tester that you insert. One way to test is to gently push down the top of the chocolate banana bread with your finger. If it feels relatively firm and bounces back when you release your finger, that's a good sign that it's done.
6. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Gently remove the loaf from the pan and place on a rack to cool completely. Slice with a serrated bread knife to serve.
