Chocolate Banana Loaf

This is a chocolate banana loaf, sprinkled throughout with peanut butter chips, gussied up with a sprinkling of powdered sugar. We’ll talk about it in a bit. First, let’s talk about the fickleness that seems to be borne deep into the bones of men.

I’ve kvetched about the fate of nearly all bananas in this house several times. But I’ve yet to speak my peace. I’ll let you know when I’m almost there. But by the time I get there, I’ll certainly find a new thing.

So. Last week. I bought two bunches of bananas with the intention, THE INTENTION, to bake with them. One bunch was a deep neon green, the other bunch was more celadon. In other words, I knew I had time before I had to get crackin’ on them. By the end of the week, Mr. Hausfrau would have eaten through the bulk of them and the last few stragglers would be left to melt into the counter. Perfect.

I place the 2 bunches in the fruit basket and point them out to Mr. Hausfrau. Great.

The next morning I wake up and the apparent super gasses in my home have ripened both bunches so much that they are yellow, the older of the bunch already lightly speckled. Say what?

I count 12 bananas in total. And panic. I point out the bananas to Mr. Hausfrau again.

The next morning, 12 bananas. All speckled. Aggressively so. I ask Mr. Hausfrau if he wants a banana. No.

The next morning, 11 bananas. Success! Maybe. The handsome speckles have stretched into macabre splotches, mocking me.

The next morning, 11 bananas. Shriveled and quite done for. So, I dissect and bag them up for the freezer. I set aside 3 for this chocolate banana loaf.

The loaf is fantastic. Dense and springy all at the same time, bananas with chocolate for depth. The peanut butter chips are a burst of richness melting on your tongue.

Mr. Hausfrau doesn’t want any. He doesn’t like banana bread.

The next morning, Mr. Hausfrau shuffles into the kitchen, grabs a yogurt from the fridge and makes his way to the fruit basket, staring forlornly at its emptiness. “Where’d all those bananas go?”

I give up.

Chocolate Banana Loaf

1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 bananas, mashed
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
powdered sugar, for garnish, if desired

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and 8 1/2 x 4” loaf pan. Set aside

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, instant coffee, salt, and baking powder.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, vanilla, applesauce, sugar and oil.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold just until combined. Add in the peanut butter chips and stir until the chips are evenly mixed throughout the batter.

Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick tested in the center comes out dry.

Cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar and slicing.

Yield: 8-12 slices

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7 Responses to Chocolate Banana Loaf

  1. Ohhh now you’ve done it! I think I need to make this over the weekend!

  2. Amanda says:

    I was just thinking about making some banana bread…and since your version includes cocoa powder, it instantly wins. Maybe I’ll blow off my freelance work this afternoon and bake instead.

  3. I’ve been thinking about banana bread recently…I have this recent urge to combine chocolate + bananas + protein powder and see what comes of it. This is making me really want to test it out now!

    • Sally says:

      I think protein powder would be great with banana bread – you’ve got a lot of moisture from the fruit, so you won’t have a banana brick!

  4. chocolate, banana, and peanut butter…. a triple threat. this bread looks insanely delish!

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