Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I am a big fan of banana flavored dishes. You might have noticed that I have a few posts about banana recipes. One of my favorite treats is banana bread - it is especially yummy when it is warm, with a bit of butter and some cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top. Sometimes, I like to change it up and put in chocolate chips. This bread, takes that idea one step further, it is banana bread with chocolate chips and cocoa - to make it a yummy chocolatey treat. It has a nice crumb and it is delicious at room temperature and warmed too!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Servings 18

1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter melted and cooled
3 bananas ripe
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, mash the ripe bananas and add eggs, melted butter and vanilla. Stir until mixed. Add the dry ingredients, stirring just to incorporate. Add the chocolate chips and stir.

Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Each slice of the bread (about 55 g) is just 186 calories. I think it makes for a great treat that I don't have to feel too guilty about.

Disclaimer

Chocolate Banana Upside Down Cake

Today was the 50th Birthday of one of my coworkers. When I looked into my pantry to decide what to make this morning, I realized that I had some bananas that I thought would be good to use, as they were starting to reach overripe. I had some butterscotch chips, so I thought that maybe I would make some sort of banana butterscotch bars, but I wasn't well prepared, as I was out of flour. That meant banana bread was out of the question too. I didn't have a 'plain' cake mix that I could mix in the bananas, but I did have a chocolate cake mix that came with a fudge filling. I also had no frosting and wasn't really in the mood to whip any up. So, I decided that I would do a banana upside down cake with what I did have on hand. The mix was for a full cake, so unlike my pineapple upside down cake, I made it in a 9x13 pan.



Chocolate Banana Upside Down Cake

Banana Topping
6 T Butter
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
3 bananas, sliced

Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in brown sugar until dissolved, allow to simmer for a couple of minutes. Pour the sauce into buttered pan. Distribute banana slices over the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

Chocolate Cake

Prepare cake mix according to package directions or whip up your favorite homemade chocolate cake. Gently pour over the bananas.

Bake according to package directions. Allow to cool on wire rack for 15 - 20 minutes. Invert onto plate. Slice and serve.

I had a piece this morning when it was still warm, it was so delicious and the banana topping made it so moist. I do recommend a more ripe banana, they tend to be a little sweeter and in my opinion a little less 'starchy'.


Disclaimer

Banana Ice Cream

I'm not sure when I first heard of it or where really for that matter, but lately I have found myself very intrigued with the Yonana. The idea that you could take a banana that has been frozen and turn it into soft serve ice cream just sounded really good to me. Of course, it is another kitchen appliance that I am not sure that I really need. After all, I seem to be challenged with space to store things and talk about a specialty item - it makes banana ice cream (okay, they have other recipes, but still).

I had a free day on Labor Day, so I decided to try an experiment. I took two soft bananas, mostly brown skin and sliced them and put them into the freezer. I wasn't sure whether to try blender or food processor, but since I only had two bananas the food processor made more sense to me. I put the bananas into the bowl and started to swirl them around. At first, it seemed to be a failed experiment. The bananas were breaking apart, but they weren't really pureeing. I used a spatula and scraped and turned and returned to processing. Still, wasn't quite getting there - maybe I needed to let them soften a little from their frozen state? I wasn't patient enough to allow for that, so I added a tablespoon of milk and tried again. Now, they were becoming smooth and whipped.

I grabbed two spoons out of the drawer and handed a spoonful to my husband that had just arrived home and to my daughter who was anxious to try it. They both liked it. My husband couldn't believe that it was just bananas. I gave my daughter a small bowl with a bit of chocolate drizzle.

I put the rest in a bowl and put on a lid and stuck it in the freezer for part two of my experiment. My son came home a little while later and after dinner, I let him try the ice cream too. Much to my delight, when I pulled it back out of the freezer, it was still a soft, scoopable texture.

Banana Ice Cream
2 - Bananas, sliced and frozen

Add frozen bananas to food processor. Process until bananas puree and whip.

Add 1 Tbsp Milk if needed to help the puree process. Serve.

The two bananas made enough ice cream to let us all taste it and each of my kids to have a bowl of ice cream. It was reasonably quick to prepare - I had only put the bananas in the refrigerator this morning, it doesn't take long to freeze them. With it just being bananas, it isn't too bad for you either, even with a little chocolate syrup drizzled on top.

I probably won't clutter my kitchen with another gadget, but will certainly enjoy banana ice cream again. I might even try adding to it - maybe some strawberries, or peanut butter, or chocolate chips.
Disclaimer

Banana Cherry Loaf

Banana bread has been a long time favorite of mine. I don't eat nuts, so my banana bread is typically simply banana bread. On occasion, I have been known to add chocolate chips to my banana bread, but not much else. Yesterday, I decided to add some cherries to the banana bread. I think the result was absolutely delicious. I think that next time, I might try this recipe with Blueberries.

Banana Cherry Loaf
1/2 c shortening
1 c sugar
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 c flour, divided
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c cherries, pitted and halved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

Cream shortening and sugar.

Add the eggs one at a time. Add the bananas and mix well. Add 1 1/4 c flour, baking soda and salt. Mix thoroughly.

Add the 1/4 c flour to the cherries and gently toss to coat. Add to the batter and fold in.

Pour into pan and bake about 55 minutes, until the center is set.

Some notes:
I used a whisk, but you could use a mixer.
I sprinkled the top of the loaf with a little bit of cinnamon and sugar.
The cherries fell towards the bottom, I'm thinking that quartering them might leave them more dispersed in the loaf.