Chocolate Banana Bread

There's so much more than plain old banana nut bread.  Don't get me wrong, there is a place for it in this delicious world, but when I've got upwards of a dozen bananas to make into tasty treats, the last thing I want to do is make the same recipe over and over again.  Having such success with Peanut Butter Banana Bread, I wondered if I could come up with a recipe matching another great flavor with the bread, chocolate.  Turns out I was right and this tasty bread delivering a subtle sweet banana note in a soft chocolate loaf was definitely the way to go.

Using my new found knowledge of ratios, I was inspired by a recipe from Sandra Lee in the April 2011 issue of Food Network Magazine.  I like Sandra Lee's "semi-homemade" style, so her take on this bread made from a prepared muffin mix was interesting.  But her recipe didn't use any fresh bananas so it wasn't very useful for my banana conundrum.  So I broke down the elements and came up with this version, including a very light glaze (almost like a thin donut glaze).  The results a homemade version of Sandra's treat both adorable and more importantly, yummy.



Chocolate Banana Bread

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs (oops, there's only one pictured)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla (I missed this in the picture too.  Sorry.)
1 cup ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Set aside.

Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Continue beating and add sour cream, vanilla and bananas.

Gradually add flour mixture to banana mixture and stir until combined.  Stir in mini chocolate chips until mixed through.

Divide batter evenly among greased mini loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until tops are firm and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in pans for 10 minutes then remove to wire rack to complete cooling.

Alternatively you could make 1 large loaf by turning batter into a prepared loaf pan and baking for 60-70 minutes.

Glaze

Ingredients

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth.  Adding more milk will make the glaze thinner.  Adding more powdered sugar will make it thicker.  Drizzle over cooled loaves.

Hint: Place a flexible cutting mat under the wire rack before drizzling glaze on loaves.  This will keep your counter clean from any glaze that drips off the bread.

Makes 6 mini loaves or 1 standard loaf.

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess

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