Over the years we've posted three different banana bread recipes here on Oui, Chef. First was this, our favorite straight up version. Then came a cocoa variant from my friend Sally Sampson at Chop Chop Magazine, and finally a Nutella version I whipped up to put an end to a large tub of Nutella that Arthas and I bought while at Chelsea Market in NYC.
Most food bloggers would be content with sharing three different varieties of a dish, but no, not us. As we continue to do with brownies, we are constantly looking for exciting new twists on one of our favorite treats, banana bread. Bananas are something that we always have on hand in the kitchen, and when they get a bit long in the tooth we either craft a bread out of them, or peel, cut and freeze them for use in morning smoothies. Last week, when I needed to deal with 2 leftover bananas, I found our frozen banana remnant bag full to capacity, so bread it was.
As luck would have it I had just discovered a new recipe in our latest King Arthur Flour catalogue, and it looked outstanding. Whereas the Chop Chop recipe gave us a dose of cocoa to add some depth and intrigue to our banana bread, the KA recipe doubles down on the chocolaty goodness by including both cocoa AND chocolate chips in the mix.
Oh my…..
Unlike a traditional banana bread, which I view as a breakfast treat or an afternoon snack with tea, this monster begs to be treated like a full-on dessert. I enjoyed a slab slightly warmed in the micro and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream….YUM! Of course, I also had a slab the next day after my morning run, then another one the following day with an afternoon cuppa.
I've never claimed to be been very good at sharing.
Cheers – Steve
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 medium)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350℉. Lightly grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan
- Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa.
- In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. beat in the egg, then stir in the vanilla, banana, and sour cream. gently mix in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips until well incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45-60 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the bread from the oven, and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Turn the bread out onto a rack to cool completely.