We all LOVE banana bread! The fragrance of the simple banana bread, when it is fresh out of the oven, is absolutely crave worthy! When it is just about cooled down and the crust has formed, I love to slice into that slightly warm banana bread, with the ooey gooey chocolate chips and sneak in a bite, which usually means late in the night! That is because banana bread is one of those bakes, which I have been making for years, and it is like a give in, that if I have over ripe bananas, that I do NOT want to waste, MAKE BANANA BREAD! It is one of those recipes, which are taken for granted, that I know in my sleep, and I make the batter in 15 minutes, and the rest 1 hour goes in the bake! It is one of those recipes that I have not had time to photograph, because I usually make it Sunday night, and then it is eaten by the kids for breakfast for the entire week! I know that week, I do not have to worry about what my kids will eat for breakfast because they devor this banana bread!
I adapted this recipe from Epicurious and I LOVE IT! I made my own modifications to this recipe, and I love how it turns out every single time. I have been making this same recipe for quite a few years now. I divide the batter(once I have added the chocolate chips and walnuts) into 2 parts, and add 1/3 cup dark cocoa powder to one part to create a swirled banana bread. I love the bites of chocolate bread in the middle of each bite! The total quantity makes for one normal loaf, and a mini loaf. If you do not have a mini loaf pan, you can bake them off into a cake pan with a cake liner. But do NOT waste the batter :)! This bread lasts for a week, if it lasts! I have even made banana bread waffle slices, and topped it off with whipped cream and berries as breakfast for the kids!
I hope you all are doing ok amidst all the COVID-19 talks. It has been a challenging few weeks, but I will say this, it has been very gratifying, and you really learn to appreciate a lot of things that are taken for granted. I am blesssed, and thankful, that I have a job, a home, my family to fulfil my life and I really wish that the situation can get better soon. Although it may be a very long time to go back to an absolute normal, I wish we can atleast socialize and meet friends like we used to.
Hope you are all healthy, safe and trying to live in whatever surroundings you have and to practice gratitude everyday for the little things that are in our lives.
XO
Amisha
Ingredients
- Makes 1 loaf pan + 1 mini loaf pan
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- 1/3 cup dutch process cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
- ¼ cup greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 ripe bananas, skin removed, completed mashed in a bowl
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips + ½ cup extra for the top
- 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use baking spray to coat a normal loaf pan and a mini loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, add the all purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, cinnamon, salt and whisk to combine. In a small bowl, add the mashed bananas, greek yogurt, vanilla extract and mix well with a whisk.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, with a paddle attachment, add butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar and whisk for 2 minutes at high speed. Add eggs one a time, and whisk to combine. Now add in the banana mixture and whisk again to combine. Now add the flour mixture on slow speed, in 2 additions. Whisk until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and mix well.
- Divide the mixture into 2 clean bowls. Add the sifted cocoa powder to one bowl and use a spatula to combine well, until you do not see any cocoa powder specks.
- Add ½ cup of each mixture into the loaf pan, alternating between the two mixtures(make sure to use 2 different cups or spatulas), to fill it up all the way leaving a 1.5 inch gap from the top, giving the loaf room to rise. Put the remaining dough into the mini loaf pan. Using a pairing knife, or a skewer, swirl around in the batter to create a marble effect. Do not over swirl else the effect will be lost. Add the 1/2 cup chocolate chips on top of the 2 loaves.
- Put the pans into the oven, preferably into the 2nd lower rack. The bigger loaf bakes for about 60 minutes, and the smaller loaf bakes for 40 minutes. Use a tooth pick to poke in the middle of the loaf and check if it comes out clean. That will let you know if the loaf is baked completely.
- Remove the mini loaf pan from the oven after 40 minutes and the bigger loaf pan after 60 minutes. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Gently remove it from the pan, and let it rest on a cooling rack for an hour, until completely cooled.
- Slice and EAT!
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