This is a banana bread recipe that’s so chocolate-y, even my husband who hates bananas likes it. It’s damp and dark, filled with little pockets of chocolate, and crunchy from the nibs on top. And as a bonus, it’s really simple to make, and you don’t even need to dirty much more than a whisk, one mixing bowl and loaf tin (I make a lot of my decisions about what to make based on how much washing up it generates.)
So, this is mess-free, easy, and delicious, what’s not to like?
If your bananas aren’t really ripe then do hold off making this until they are; the sweetness of a ripe/verging-on-over-ripe banana is key to good banana bread. Also, if you have a lot of bananas getting over-ripe when you’re not in the mood for making banana bread, do peel them and freeze the flesh in a sandwich bag for making this at a later date. I constantly find myself with too many bananas (my kids want nothing but bananas when I don’t have any, and couldn’t be less interested in them when I have plenty!) and as a result I always have a bag of peeled bananas in the freezer, which are perfect for this.
Makes 1 loaf – you will need a 1lb loaf tin.
[recipe-ingredients]- 115g unsalted butter
- 50g natural yoghurt
- 2-3 very ripe bananas (2 if large, or 3 if small/medium)
- 150g soft dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Pinch salt
- 125g plain flour
- 65g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 115g dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp cocoa nibs, optional
- Heat the oven to 160’c fan/180’c conventional. Grease and line a loaf tin with non-stick baking parchment.
- Put the butter into a heat-proof mixing bowl, and melt it in the microwave. Add the bananas to the butter and use a fork to mash them. Whisk in the yoghurt and egg, followed by the sugar (make sure the sugar is lump free).
- Whisk in the flour, bicarb, cocoa and salt, then add the dark chocolate and whisk to combine.
- Turn the batter into the lined loaf tin, then level the top with a spatula/spoon. Sprinkle the cocoa nibs evenly over the top, then bake on the middle shelf of the pre-heated oven for 60-70 minutes.
- After 45 minutes, cover it with a piece of foil to stop it from over-browning. When a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean, remove it from the oven and let it cool in the tin for 30 minutes before carefully de-moulding, and leaving it to cool on a wire rack.
- Serve with a glass of cold milk – trust me.
This is quite a grown-up cake in that the cocoa flavour is intense, and it’s not overly sweet – if you aren’t a big fan of dark chocolate, perhaps use milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate to stir through the batter at the end, as this will sweeten the whole thing.
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