Ah, banana bread. I feel bad for it sometimes. As much as I like it, it’s usually an afterthought. I never plan to make it. It’s only when I spot overripe bananas that I start contemplating what to bake with them.
For a little variety this time around, I went with the banana-chocolate combo. This bread is quite generous in the chocolate department.
While you can certainly use chocolate chips, I went with the recipe’s suggestion of chopping chocolate. This gives you varying pieces of chocolate, including little thin slivers. The result is lots and lots of chocolate ribboned throughout the bread and more than plenty in every bite.
This bread bakes up nice and tall. Be sure your loaf pan is nice and tall, too, to avoid heartbreak. Another word of caution: It can be a bit tricky to test for doneness with all that chocolate. You may need to test it in more than one spot near the center to make sure it’s thoroughly baked.
Ingredients
- 1 & 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 & 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 & 1/2 cups mashed overripe bananas (about 3-4 bananas)
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. Generously grease a 9"x 5" loaf pan.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add bananas, sour cream, and vanilla, and continue beating until combined.
Gradually add flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Stir in chocolate.
Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool in pan for about 10 minutes. Then, transfer bread to wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Everyday Food.
August 22nd, 2012 at 9:01 am
Banana bread, is hardly ever on my agenda as well – - but once I make it, I’m always so happy. Chunks are a great idea, I love the fact that you can see the mounds of chocolate ~ yum!!
August 22nd, 2012 at 9:04 am
I agree with LTSL above–it is an afterthought, but at least it’s a thought! It’s always better than I remember it, and once I started adding chocolate chips (just last year) it has made it’s way into a more regular rotation at my joint. But chocolate chunks and slivers?! The next level of awesome! Thanks for sharing.
August 22nd, 2012 at 9:53 am
Mmmm…. I have a PILE of bananas in the freezer and I keep meaning to make banana bread. You’re right – it’s an afterthought. Even when I plan it I don’t seem to get to it!!
August 22nd, 2012 at 10:16 am
Definitely looks delicious. Bigger chocolate chunks are worth it in my book.
August 22nd, 2012 at 1:10 pm
It looks great! i love this kind of breads, I did one this month for my blog and it looked very similar but with nuts and some orange too.
August 22nd, 2012 at 11:23 pm
I love banana bread but have never had it with chocolate chunks before. Looks delicious. Going to have to try this out.
August 23rd, 2012 at 1:18 am
Wow. That looks incredibly moist. I’m happy you posted this because it reminds me that I need to buy some bananas for some banana bread.
My husband loves it so I actually plan to make it pretty often. I love it, but I’m allergic to bananas so don’t really get to eat it. Can’t get over how moist it looks!
August 23rd, 2012 at 6:40 pm
There’s no way this could not be great. Chocolate makes everything better!
August 24th, 2012 at 4:19 am
I haven’t tried chocolate with banana bread either but by the looks of the results, I’ve been missing out. Won’t miss out next batch for sure.
August 24th, 2012 at 7:42 am
Banana bread is probably one of my top 5 favorite kinds of food – this looks to die for!
August 26th, 2012 at 1:14 pm
I thought i already had the perfect banana bread recipe, but yours looks so much better. I’m definitely going to try it
.
August 30th, 2012 at 5:36 pm
I made the bread yesterday. It turned out great. Thanks for the idea.
September 2nd, 2012 at 2:31 pm
Bread was delicious, but most of my chunks fell to bottom. Do you have any suggestions?
September 4th, 2012 at 7:45 am
Dee, some people swear by tossing the chocolate chips in part of the recipe’s flour before mixing them into the batter. In my experience, I find that many times you can prevent the chips sinking by not overmixing the batter. You want there to be some streaks of flour in the batter when you add the chocolate chunks so that the batter is just mixed after you stir in the chocolate.
December 21st, 2012 at 1:08 pm
I found this recipe on pinterest and made it. My sister said it was the best banana bread she had ever had, which I had to agree with. So thanks!