Category: Breads and Pastries

This recipe is incredible...it may even be life changing.

Growing up I never really liked fruit or veggie breads...not banana bread, not zucchini bread, not carrot cake...none of it.  There was always something about the texture and sweetness that bugged me.  A few years ago my mom found a recipe while watching the Food Network that she decided to try out...Bobby Flay's Espresso-Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.  She actually made it that day after watching that show and the results were amazing.  This recipe is based on that but altered slightly to my tastes.  I've made this numerous times for multiple people and everyone has devoured it.  It is a pretty easy recipe for that well of a reception.

The original recipe was intended as bread but more often than not I make it as muffins.

To start, you need bananas...ripe bananas.  I seem to buy bananas a couple of times a month and half the time they go uneaten; those bananas then go right into the freezer to be used in banana bread at a later time.  When I'm using frozen bananas, I microwave them in 30 second intervals until I can easily remove the peels, then proceed as if they weren't frozen.  If I really want or even need banana bread and don't have any ripe bananas at all then there's a trick you can use to ripen them up quick: bake them, peel on, for 15-30 minutes in an oven set to 300 degrees; once the peel is shiny and black they're ready to be used for bread. :-)

The first steps are to mash the bananas in a large bowl and brown the butter.  To brown the butter, heat it in a small pan until it becomes a deep golden brown color and begins to smell nutty; be careful to pay attention since butter burns very quickly.  Once the butter has browned, be sure to let it cool a few minutes before combing it in the recipe, otherwise it'll curdle the egg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, add the sugars, cooled brown butter, and egg to the mushed bananas.

In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients: the flour, salt, and baking soda.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.

Fold the chocolate into the batter.  I used a few different types of chocolate in this recipe; they all add their own taste and I don't have a favorite among them...just depends on what I feel like that day and what kind of chocolate is in my freezer.  I've used all sorts of chocolate chips: bitter-sweet, milk, dark, mini...; and I've used bars of Bakers chocolate that I then chopped and/or shaved into small pieces.

Once the chocolate has been added, pour the batter into your desired baking vessel.  I tend to use cupcake tins and make muffins...I just feel like they bake quicker.  Brad prefers bread loafs because he likes the idea of having a huge chunk of banana bread vs. the size of a muffin.

Bake at 350 degrees.  If baking muffins, bake for approximately 20 minutes.  When gently tapped the tops of the muffins should bounce bake when they're finished baking.  If baking a loaf, bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let the bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then remove and allow to finish cooling on a cooling rack.

This bread is amazing warm, at room temp., or cold; personally I also refrigerate it because I LOVE it cold.

Enjoy! :-)