Chocolate Banana Bread

I love banana bread, but I never make it for myself. I only eat it when other people make it, but since no one was around it was up to me! There’s no better time to practice baking than when in self isolation :) Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a TERRIBLE baker. Something always goes wrong. This time, my mom kept a close eye on me and helped me along the way to make sure this banana bread didn’t get ruined.

Here’s some tips before you get started:

• If you have bananas but they aren’t ripe, just punch some holes in them with a fork and put them in the microwave for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

• If you have some time the night before, then put the bananas in a bag to cut off the oxygen to make them ripen quicker!

I used salted butter + no salt instead of unsalted butter + salt. I also didn’t have semi-sweet chocolate chips so I gathered some stray chocolate bars from my pantry and chopped them up.

Here’s the recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar

• 3 medium overripe bananas

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 cup sour cream

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. I used Pam!

Step 2

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Step 3

In a medium bowl, beat together the melted butter and sugars until thick. Stir in the bananas, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. Pour in the dry ingredients and gently stir to combine. Fold in 1 cup of the chocolate chips.

Step 4

Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread with a spatula. Be sure to get the air bubbles out by lightly tapping the mix with the spatula or lightly beating the pan on the counter. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips evenly over the top.

Step 5

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test and is done in the middle. Optional: Loosely cover with foil for the last 10 minutes of baking to avoid crispy edges.

Step 6

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely in loaf pan on wire rack before removing to slice and serve!