Day 1197 | Dark Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread

/
IMG_7518.JPG

The bananas in my freezer have been taunting me for weeks. Chase and I have been craving banana bread for a similar amount of time. Thankfully, Smitten Kitchen published an appealing enough recipe to get me motivated to make all of our dreams come true.

Don't worry, my tried-and-true sugar-free banana bread recipe from years ago (look how little Chase is!), remains my favorite for *most* occasions. Today, though, the Dark Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread recipe was calling my name. As an indulgent alternative recipe, I couldn't ask for more. Oh, and one super cute side note...Robbe kept calling it monkey bread (Get it? Because monkeys eat bananas!!). We thought it was adorable.

I did make a few modifications to the original recipe, but the foundation remained. Here's what I did...

Dark Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread

Ingredients:
3 large very ripe bananas
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoonvanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table or fine sea salt
1 cup  plus 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

  • Heat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan, or coat it with a nonstick baking spray.
  • Melt butter in the bottom of a large bowl in the microwave. Mash the bananas right into it until mostly smooth. Whisk in brown sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt until thoroughly combined. Add 1 cup of the flour, stirring just until it disappears.
  • Pour half of batter into a second bowl.  Into one bowl, stir the remaining 1/4 cup of flour and ground cinnamon. Into the other bowl, stir in the cocoa powder and chocolate chips.
  • Dollop batters in large alternating spoonfuls into bottom of prepared loaf pan. Attempt to “checkerboard” the rest in, roughly meaning that you’ll drop a chocolate batter dollop on top of a chocolate-free one and vice-versa until both batters are used up. Use a butter knife or small offset spatula to make a few figure-8s through the batters, marbling them together — but just a little, say, 2 to 3 figure-8s. Any more and the swirls may not look distinct when you cut the cake. As you can see from my photo, I didn't do *the best* job of marbling, but it still tastes good!
  • Bake 55 to 65 minutes, until a tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out batter-free. (A melted chocolate chip smear is expected, however.) Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert it out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.