Easy Chocolate Banana Loaf

Great to be back here after taking such a long break from the blogsphere. My last post is apparently on the.... 27th of February 2014. That's, 8 months ago. Has it really been that long? Time seemingly flies past us without us knowing.

Just two days ago, I had this urge to bake a loaf of banana bread.

Being a lover of all things chocolatey, it struck me, why not combine chocolate and banana in a single loaf? A quick search online came up with recipes that seem to result in really moist breads. Maybe it's just me? But i'm not such a big fan of moist, sticky, gooey breads. That would appear to me as uncooked and simply unpalatable.

I decided to try my luck and come up with my own version of the Chocolate Banana Bread. This simple recipe, is adapted from your typical Banana Bread. 

I know that many of such banana bread recipes online require the use of apple sauce. However, living here in Singapore, I am not given the benefit of buying off-the-counter apple sauce. Probably im not looking hard enough? But in any case, most of the local grocery stores here do not carry this ingredient. With this, I selected a recipe that is simple and did my modifications.

FYI: I have already reduced the butter & sugar quantities. So, for those who would prefer a sweeter cake, feel free to increase the sugar amount.

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Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Yield: 1 Loaf

Ingredients

• 155 g All Purpose Flour
• 75 g Cake Flour
• 30 g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 100 g Unsalted Butter (Softened)
• 110 g Caster Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 3 Medium Bananas
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a another large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs until incorporated. Beat in the mashed bananas and vanilla.
4. Gradually add in the flour mixture (do not overmix).
5. Scrape the batter in the pan. Bake 30 minutes then check on it. If it is uncooked, bake for another 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes then remove from the pan to cool completely.

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While it is baking, bask in the moment where the lovely fragrance of banana bread wafts through the air.

You are welcome. ;)