Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Bananas on the brink of ripeness, still a bit green, or on the edge of being thrown out are my kind of bananas. I am completely unaware of all others. I love the starchiness and the slightly bitter taste of immature bananas. My mother always found this a bit weird. I begged her to buy green ones. I carefully monitored their progress from green to bright yellow, then I devoured them. Once the remaining bananas developed black spots - reincarnation - Banana Bread!


Quickbreads make easy and impressive desserts or breakfast treats. One-bowl recipes are my idea of cooking. Nothing like standing over a steamy sink filled with dirty dishes to make you regret the chicken mole enchiladas you made for dinner. Yummy, yes, but a nightmare to clean up. I eagerly await a high-powered dishwasher.

My first experience with banana bread came from the bright blue Jiffy box. I remember baking muffins with my mother. I was so excited to open the vibrantly colored box and get started. It was amazing to see muffins come out of a box filled with powder. Adding a few ingredients, milk and eggs, made tasty, fluffy muffins. Later in life, I learned all about muffins baked from scratch and I never looked back. I don't want to knock Jiffy. Jiffy along with Jell-o introduced me to cooking. For that, I will always love Jiffy and their unbeatable corn bread mix, which I've never been able to achieve from scratch.


This recipe for banana bread produces a cake with a moist crumb and an intense banana flavor. The cake is not too sweet, a fault I often find with many commercially made banana breads. I mix up the recipe a little, substituting hazelnuts for sunflower seeds or adding raisins. Banana bread is forgiving, so use whatever you have on hand. I used a standard-size loaf pan, but when the pan filled beyond two-thirds full, I got nervous and grabbed a six-cup muffin tin for the overflow. I would rather clean out an extra pan than worry about volcanic banana bread in a hot oven.



Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins/Cake

4 oz (1 stick) butter, softened or at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large ripe bananas, smashed
1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup almond flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup soy milk or milk
1/2 cup chocolate chips, bittersweet
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 F. Butter a standard loaf pan and a six cup muffin tin.

Sift together the flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Measure out one cup of soy milk or regular milk. Mash two ripe bananas.

Beat together the sugar and softened butter at medium-slow speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, completely incorporating the eggs. Mix in the smashed bananas until the batter is smooth.

Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk mixture in two parts. Mix until the flour is just moistened. Scrape down the sides of the bowl between additons. Avoid overmixing.

Gently fold in chocolate chips and sunflower seeds. Stir in vanilla.

Fill the muffin tin 2/3 full with batter. Add the remaining batter to the loaf pan.

Finish by sprinkling the tops with sunflower seeds.

Bake until lightly golden brown. Muffins for 12-15 minutes. Loaf for 35-45 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. Cut the loaf into 1/2 inch thick slices and serve with a steaming cup of coffee or a big scoop of yogurt.

Note: This could easily make eighteen muffins.

Toodlebug,
Michelle