I used to get a bunch of bananas with a clear plan and intention of eating one everyday. And then I would squint at them everyday, pondering what could be the best way to eat them so that they will not taste like banana. I would literally watch the spotless and banana-yellow bananas turning black, day by day. And then they would go to the trash, because they are too black to eat.
Yeah, I am not a banana person, if you haven’t figured that already.
It was almost like I buy bananas to study the process of them getting black and rotten. And every time after tossing them into the trash I would feel sorry to have wasted food. So, I finally stopped buying bananas.
Or I had stopped buying bananas, as I should say. Now I buy bananas, squint at them everyday (that fastens the blackening process, try it), watch them turn pale yellow to black spots to spot black. And I do all this happily.
Well, who would not, when you see banana bread at the end of it.
So yeah, being not a banana person helps sometimes.
Speaking of help, I would tell you whats the other thing that helps. Mise en place.
Mise en place is French for organizing and arranging the ingredients and utensils which you would need for making the dish. It could help you heaps in making the cooking process smooth and fast. But that is only if you don’t do it the way I do it, which is missing a ingredient (or two) in the list and then running for it later on. Organizing, what!!
Oh, but what if you are like me. Well, not to worry, because mise en place or not this banana bread is gonna be delicious. We have pecans and chocolate chunks to watch our backs.
Ooey-gooey chocolate on top and pecans inside and toasty-nutty brown butter, these many good things together are a recipe for success or a delicious banana bread. Well, same thing.
Makes – 1 medium loaf
Prep time – 20 mins with mise en place, add another 5 if you are me
Baking time – 30-35 minutes
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter – 1/2 cup or 1 stick
- Dark brown sugar – 1 cup
- Overripe or perfectly ripe bananas – 2, large ones
- Pure vanilla extract – 1 teaspoon
- All purpose flour / maida – 1 cup
- Whole wheat flour – 1/2 cup
- Chocolate powder / cooking or baking chocolate powder – 2 tablespoons
- Baking soda – 3/4 teaspoon
- Baking powder – 1/4 teaspoon
- Pecans, coarsely chopped – 1/2 cup
- Chocolate chunks – 1/2 cup
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F and grease a medium loaf pan with some butter or line it with parchment paper.
- In a pan melt butter at low-medium heat and let it bubble on medium flame until all the froth and bubbles settled down and you are left with clear yellow liquid and some butter solids at the bottom of the pan.
- Now take the pan off flame, stir in the brown sugar and let it stand for a few minutes so that the mixture is not super hot when banana goes in. Once the mixture is cooled, add in the mashed banana and vanilla extract and mix well.
- Now add the in the dry ingredients i.e. flours, chocolate powder, baking powder and baking soda. Mix them to combine, taking care not to over-mix the batter. This is a batter for bread and hence it would be of thicker consistency than a cake batter.
- Throw in the pecans and chocolate chunks, but reserve some chocolate (just a handful) to scatter on the top. Mix well again.
- Transfer the batter to the greased or lined loaf pan, scatter the leftover chocolate chunks on top and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Once the loaf is out of oven, transfer it to a wire rack and let it cool down for a few minutes. Now, this bread taste the most delicious when warm and the top chocolate is gooey. So you can either cut your loaf while its still warm, at which point it will still be crumbly and a little difficult to handle. Or you could be not like me and be patient and wait for the loaf the cool down considerably before cutting it. Completely your choice.
Tips & Variations
- You can add walnuts if you cannot get your hand on pecans.
- If you want to make this with eggs, reduce the quantity of bananas to 2 small bananas instead of large ones and add one whole egg. Add the egg in the mixture with mashed bananas but make sure that mixture is cooled down to prevent the eggs from cooking.
I warmed some slices in microwave for about 20-30 seconds and polished them off with my morning coffee, day after. The husband, very much like me, also is not a banana person. Neither a banana bread person. So I nibbled on the rest of the loaf while it lasted, which wasn’t long, by the way! As I say, being not a banana person helps. It helps the wife too. 
Heres a handy dandy printable recipe for you.
- Unsalted butter - ½ cup or 1 stick
- Dark brown sugar - 1 cup
- Overripe or perfectly ripe bananas - 2, large ones
- Pure vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
- All purpose flour / maida - 1 cup
- Whole wheat flour - ½ cup
- Chocolate powder / cooking or baking chocolate powder - 2 tablespoons
- Baking soda - ¾ teaspoon
- Baking powder - ¼ teaspoon
- Pecans, coarsely chopped - ½ cup
- Chocolate chunks - ½ cup
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F and grease a medium loaf pan with some butter or line it with parchment paper.
- In a pan melt butter at low-medium heat and let it bubble on medium flame until all the froth and bubbles settled down and you are left with clear yellow liquid and some butter solids at the bottom of the pan.
- Now take the pan off flame, stir in the brown sugar and let it stand for a few minutes so that the mixture is not super hot when banana goes in. Once the mixture is cooled, add in the mashed banana and vanilla extract and mix well.
- Now add the in the dry ingredients i.e. flours, chocolate powder, baking powder and baking soda. Mix them to combine, taking care not to over-mix the batter. This is a batter for bread and hence it would be of thicker consistency than a cake batter.
- Throw in the pecans and chocolate chunks, but reserve some chocolate (just a handful) to scatter on the top. Mix well again.
- Transfer the batter to the greased or lined loaf pan, scatter the leftover chocolate chunks on top and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Once the loaf is out of oven, transfer it to a wire rack and let it cool down for a few minutes. Now, this bread taste the most delicious when warm and the top chocolate is gooey. So you can either cut your loaf while its still warm, at which point it will still be crumbly and a little difficult to handle. Or you could be not like me and be patient and wait for the loaf the cool down considerably before cutting it. Completely your choice.
If you want to make this with eggs, reduce the quantity of bananas to 2 small bananas instead of large ones and add one whole egg. Add the egg in the mixture with mashed bananas but make sure that mixture is cooled down to prevent the eggs from cooking.
