Chocolate Chip Banana Bread - it's not weird!

Chocolate makes everything better!  Who's with me???  Well ... maybe not everything ... but chocolate makes lots of things better!  Especially banana bread.  Today I baked up my sister-in-law's banana bread, but replaced the traditional nuts that go into making Banana Nut Bread with chocolate chips - to make Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, of course.

Now, two side notes about this baking adventure.  First, I had some absolutely perfect way-over-ripe bananas going in the kitchen, with plans to make this bread.  They were just getting to the right amount of black spots on the peels - you know what perfect banana bread bananas look like, right?  Like there's absolutely no way you'd pop them in your mouth, and they're all dark and squishy?  I came downstairs the morning I planned to make the bread and my bananas were nowhere in sight!  What??  I'd been cultivating those bananas for days!!  Mark, being sweet and puttering around to clean up, had put the bananas down the garbage disposal.  Bummer.  So, off to the store we went to buy some more bananas ... and again the several-day wait for them to get juussst right began.

Second, my mom called while I was making this.  I told her I was making Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, and she said, "That's different."  I could tell that what she meant was "that's  weird."  So, I did a little checking out in the foodie blogosphere, and there are lots of recipes for Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.  Sooooo not  weird.

Alrighty then.  Now that we have that established, let's move on to making our not-weird Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.  Mash your over-ripe bananas, mix up some banana bread batter (this one has buttermilk in it to make it nice and moist), and then toss in some chocolate chips ... like this:

Chocolate makes everything better

Bake until your loaves are beautifully golden brown ... like this:

Golden beauties

Then cool (yes, I know it's hard ... but it's best to wait until the bread cools) and slice off a piece ... or two ... to enjoy.

And there you have it, not-weird Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.  Go ahead, try it!  You know you want to.

I invite you to follow The Kitchen is My Playground with Pinterest, Facebook, Google Friend Connect, Linky Followers, bloglovin', or Feedburner. Buttons are in the right sidebar. I'd love to have you back soon!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Source:  Adapted from a family recipe

Ingredients
2 or 3 very ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 c. mashed)
1/4 c. buttermilk (or, in a pinch, 1/4 c. milk mixed with 2 tsp. lemon juice)
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 stick butter
3/4 c. light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c. chocolate chips

Directions
1.  In a small bowl, mash bananas with a fork.  Mash in buttermilk and set aside.

2.  Place butter in a large bowl.  With an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth.  Add brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating briefly after each addition.  Mix in vanilla.

3.  Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Alternately add the flour mixture and mashed banana to the butter-sugar mixture, beating after each addition just until it is incorporated.  Fold in the chocolate chips.

4.  Lightly grease 1 regular-sized loaf pan.  Pour batter in prepared pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Or, pour batter into 3 mini loaf pans (5 3/4" x 3 1/4" x 2") and bake for about 35 minutes.

Enjoy!

This post is linked with Sweets for a Saturday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Sharing Sundays.

Chocolate makes everything better!  Who's with me???  Well ... maybe not everything ... but chocolate makes lots of things better!  Especially banana bread.  Today I baked up my sister-in-law's banana bread, but replaced the traditional nuts that go into making Banana Nut Bread with chocolate chips - to make Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, of course.

Now, two side notes about this baking adventure.  First, I had some absolutely perfect way-over-ripe bananas going in the kitchen, with plans to make this bread.  They were just getting to the right amount of black spots on the peels - you know what perfect banana bread bananas look like, right?  Like there's absolutely no way you'd pop them in your mouth, and they're all dark and squishy?  I came downstairs the morning I planned to make the bread and my bananas were nowhere in sight!  What??  I'd been cultivating those bananas for days!!  Mark, being sweet and puttering around to clean up, had put the bananas down the garbage disposal.  Bummer.  So, off to the store we went to buy some more bananas ... and again the several-day wait for them to get juussst right began.

Second, my mom called while I was making this.  I told her I was making Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, and she said, "That's different."  I could tell that what she meant was "that's  weird."  So, I did a little checking out in the foodie blogosphere, and there are lots of recipes for Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.  Sooooo not  weird.

Alrighty then.  Now that we have that established, let's move on to making our not-weird Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.  Mash your over-ripe bananas, mix up some banana bread batter (this one has buttermilk in it to make it nice and moist), and then toss in some chocolate chips ... like this:

Chocolate makes everything better

Bake until your loaves are beautifully golden brown ... like this:

Golden beauties

Then cool (yes, I know it's hard ... but it's best to wait until the bread cools) and slice off a piece ... or two ... to enjoy.

And there you have it, not-weird Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.  Go ahead, try it!  You know you want to.

I invite you to follow The Kitchen is My Playground with Pinterest, Facebook, Google Friend Connect, Linky Followers, bloglovin', or Feedburner. Buttons are in the right sidebar. I'd love to have you back soon!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Source:  Adapted from a family recipe

Ingredients
2 or 3 very ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 c. mashed)
1/4 c. buttermilk (or, in a pinch, 1/4 c. milk mixed with 2 tsp. lemon juice)
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 stick butter
3/4 c. light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c. chocolate chips

Directions
1.  In a small bowl, mash bananas with a fork.  Mash in buttermilk and set aside.

2.  Place butter in a large bowl.  With an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth.  Add brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating briefly after each addition.  Mix in vanilla.

3.  Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Alternately add the flour mixture and mashed banana to the butter-sugar mixture, beating after each addition just until it is incorporated.  Fold in the chocolate chips.

4.  Lightly grease 1 regular-sized loaf pan.  Pour batter in prepared pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Or, pour batter into 3 mini loaf pans (5 3/4" x 3 1/4" x 2") and bake for about 35 minutes.

Enjoy!

This post is linked with Sweets for a Saturday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Sharing Sundays.