Chocolate Banana Bread

For a more decadent bread, add 1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips to the batter before baking. However, we found the bread to be lightly sweet and rich enough without the chocolate chips.

Makes: 1 loaf

What You Need

• ½ cup walnuts
• 3 to 4 very ripe bananas (1 cup total)
• ½ cup butter
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder

What To Do

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
2. Chop ½ cup walnuts.
3. Mash 3 to 4 bananas in the bottom of a large bowl, enough for 1 cup. Melt ½ cup butter, then whisk it into the bananas along with ¾ cup brown sugar, 1 egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
4. Add 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 cup all-purpose flour, and
5. /2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder to the bowl and stir together with a spoon.
6. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and top with chopped walnuts.
7. Bake 55 to 65 minutes, until a tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert it onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. The bread keeps up to 4 days at room temperature wrapped in foil.