Chocolate Banana Bread

The summer is winding down here in New England.   Though, you would never know it by the weather.  It is hovering somewhere around 90 and will remain so for, at least, the next week.   I am always sad to see summer end, but at the same time, I look forward to fall.  I love the crisp fall days, the beautiful autumn colors of the leaves, and, of course, the fall foods.   Every year my family and I go apple picking at a great place called Apple Crest in New Hampshire.  On the drive there, we get to enjoy the beautiful fall foliage.  Then once there, we take a hayride to the apple trees where we load up our bags with many varieties of apples, cortland, macintosh, macoun, granny smith, delicious, etc.   This place is great.  They have a blue grass! band playing and an area where you can buy freshly made apple cider donuts and homemade pies and jams and pumpkins.  I look forward to this every year and also to the delicious recipes I will make with all of those apples.   For the next few weeks, we drink apple cider laced with cinnamon and bake and eat homemade apple pies and cakes and anything else I can think to stick apples in.  I have a few really great recipes this year that I am very excited to try.

Since I do not have my apples yet, I thought I would share this recipe with you.  I found this recipe in a book called Cakes and Bakes.  I had never seen chocolate banana bread, but it sounded good; so I thought I would give it a try.  

I really enjoyed this.  It is a very moist banana bread with a hint of chocolate and a hint of spice.  It has allspice in it which gives it the spice flavor which I think really compliments the chocolate and banana flavors.   If you are not a fan of a spice flavor, I have made a version that uses vanilla instead.  This one is also very good with more of just a chocolaty banana flavor.  Both are really good.  I cannot figure out which one I like best, though.   

To make this chocolate banana bread, put butter, brown sugar, and eggs in a bowl.  Beat well.

  Add three mashed bananas and mix again. 

 In a separate large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and allspice.

 Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture gradually and then add  yogurt.  Mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Pour into a greased 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan and bake for one hour.  

Chocolate Banana Loaf adapted from Cakes and Bakes 

1/2 cup of butter, softened
1 1/3 cups of brown sugar
2 eggs
3 bananas
2 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder (if making the nonspice version, 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder)
1 teaspoon of allspice (1 teaspoon of vanilla for the nonspice version)
1/3 cup of plain yogurt or sour cream
1 cup of semisweet or milk chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).  Grease a 9 x 13 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Put the butter, sugar, and eggs into the bowl of a mixer and mix well.  Peel and mash the bananas and add to the butter mixture.  Mix well.  Sift the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and allspice (or vanilla) into a separate bowl; then add to the banana mixture and mix well.  Add the yogurt and mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips. 

Bake in oven for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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