The dark side of my brain thinks it might be fun to run a blog series “5 Things to Bake with a Dead Banana.” (Meaning an overripe banana, after all, because all bananas separate from the tree are no longer living.)
My mom used to say that there was only 5 minutes when a banana was palatable. Outside of that window, it was either underripe with that barely sweet, almost lemony taste, or seriously overripe with brown splotches, soft texture and a funky, too sweet fragrance.
I guess this is why bananas end up in homemade baked goods. As long as you have butter and flour on hand, and a bunch of bananas ripening on the counter, you can make a sweet banana something.
In this recipe, I took my basic banana bread recipe and added chocolate chips. I used up buttermilk, bananas and an opened bag of chocolate chips in this delicious recipe. To enhance the chocolate flavor, I added a couple teaspoons of vanilla. A friend recently posted this quote on Facebook:
“I’m one of those people who doesn’t trust people who measure vanilla extract with a spoon. Vanilla is one of those things you can measure with your heart.” — Kai Harterink, cookie baker extraordinaire
Words I try to live by. ❤️❤️❤️
Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips Recipe
Yield: 1 loaf banana bread
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 bananas, mashed, to equal 1 cup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup or more chocolate chips (this is all I had on hand!)
Baking pan: 9 X 5 loaf pan
Instructions:
- Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cream butter and sugar in bowl with electric mixer.
- Beat in eggs, bananas and vanilla extract.
- Add one cup of the flour and half of the buttermilk alternately.
- Add salt and soda to remaining flour. Stir in second flour mixture and end with remaining buttermilk.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Turn into well-greased 9 X 5 loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour (this is per the cookbook, my loaf takes up to 1 hour and 15 minutes to bake in my convection oven).
- Remove from oven and let cool before slicing. Banana bread keeps at room temperature for about 5 days. Keep it wrapped or stored in a container.
More Baked Banana Recipes
Buttermilk Banana Chocolate Snack Cake Recipe
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