Double Chocolate Banana Bread
Double Chocolate Banana Bread is a healthier version of banana bread and also contains chocolate chips. A great way to use up those old bananas!
Apparently Banana Bread is the official baked good of quarantine. With people at home more comes a reignited interest in baking, whether out of boredom or out of necessity. We thought we’d join in and make some banana bread, ours being out of the necessity of getting the blackened bananas off the counter.
LOOKING FOR ANOTHER WAY TO USE UP RIPE BANANAS? Check out Daniel Tiger’s Banana Swirl!
Rather than making the more traditional Ultimate Banana Bread, I opted to try something different. My all time favorite type of cookie is double chocolate, so when I saw this healthy banana bread recipe, I immediately wanted to try it. It’s considered “healthy” by the substitution of applesauce for butter or oil, but it still has chocolate chips!
The girls went “bananas” for this bread! 😉 They had it each night as a dessert and would ask for some all day, especially my 4 year old who cannot take no for an answer. The promise of this banana bread throughout the day if she were good got us through some tough parenting moments.
Although any kind of flour will do, I used my favorite gluten free flour, Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. I have great luck with this flour producing nearly exact results to all purpose (wheat) flour. This flour already has the perfect ratio of flour to xanthan gum, so it’s ready to use. I have used this flour in my all-butter pie dough, and the result is a crust that is tender and flaky – you would never know it was gluten free (Bob confirms that!) I’ve also used it in homemade gravy and in my favorite chocolate cake recipe, and both have been successful. I have more gluten free recipes to share with this flour. What I like is that since it’s 1-to-1, the recipe is exactly the same whether you use all purpose flour or gluten free flour, so no adjustments need to be made.
Given that I have gone several years without sharing a post, yet I’ve continued to cook and photograph, I have a large backlog of posts I’ll be working on getting out. I hope my posts about parties or showers do not come across as tone deaf during this unprecedented time. No matter who you are or where you live on this planet, your life right now likely looks different than it did 2 months ago.
To the essential workers: you are invaluable and appreciated. To the workers who can stay home: you are as well. To those of you who have lost your jobs due to COVID-19: you are not alone. To those of you who have lost loved ones due to COVID-19: my thoughts and prayer are with you. To those of you wondering if life will ever be the same: I am hopeful it will. What makes me hopeful? Science. There will be parties and weddings and graduations and baby showers. When? None of us know that answer, but someday. Until then, we can dream and plan and hope for the future. For a type-A planner such as myself, having my entire calendar of plans erased has been difficult. So while I cannot plan a specific event right now, I will keep looking back on the parties we’ve had and looking forward to the parties that will be.
To quote John Oliver: And Now This
Gluten Free and MSPI Chocolate Banana Bread
Use a gluten free flour blend, such as Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour, in place of all purpose flour. For MSPI (Milk Soy Protein Intolerance), use dairy free chocolate chips, such as Enjoy Life brand.
LOOKING FOR MORE QUICK BREAD RECIPES?
Check out these other quick breads:
Ultimate Banana Bread
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
Cranberry Christmas Cake
Zucchini Bread
Pineapple Carrot Bread
Poppy Seed Bread
Chocolate Banana Bread Muffins
Another use for ripe bananas is Daniel Tiger’s Banana Swirl! A delicious frozen treat.
Double Chocolate Banana Bread
Equipment
- 2 8-inch loaf pans
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 6 bananas)
- 2 cups flour (all purpose or gluten free)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease two 8-inch loaf pans.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, applesauce, vanilla, and bananas.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. You may reserve some to sprinkle on top of the batter.
- Bake loaves for 45 – 60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs attached.
