Double Chocolate Banana Bread

This is absolutely going into my "use up ripe bananas with this recipe" pile. I have talked too many times (probably) about my stash of freezer bananas, and so it's safe to say we always have some on hand! Sometimes I decide it's time to make a dent and find a recipe that will use up a handful (or two) of them.

This was one of our recent attempts to make a dent in a ton of extra bananas that had accumulated, and man oh man am I glad we gave it a try! It's a wonderfully rich, tender, moist, decadent loaf studded with little bits of chocolate chip. The banana and chocolate just work so very well together! It's a lovely combination of textures and flavors. You can totally call this breakfast bread - but it really works well for dessert too!

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Ingredients
3 very ripe bananas
1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour or plain flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, divided

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick cooking or baking spray and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, blend the bananas until they are fully mashed, then blend in the melted butter, oil, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Blend in the brown sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients: baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour. Whisk to combine. Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry, just until combined. 
4. Use a spatula to fully scrape down the sides and bottom and stir a time or two. Mix half of the chocolate chips in with the spatula, and scrape mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips over the top of the batter and bake in the pre-heated oven for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
5. Cool in the pan at least 15 - 20 minutes before turning out to complete cooling on a wire rack. Delicious served warm or room temperature. 
6. Store leftovers in a sealed container on the counter, and move to the refrigerator after a day or two (if it lasts that long).

Recipe from Cafe Delites