If you have been reading my previous recent posts, by now, I am sure you have surely picked up that I am a chocolate lover. In fact, if the culinary world allowed me to prosper and indulge my chocolate obsession, I would probably put it on everything. But, that is definitely impossible. And, I also did mention that, the combination of nuts and chocolate just warms the cockles of my heart. So, it is no surprise that my newly developed banana bread recipe has both.
You have no idea how this recipe makes me proud, because I really took my time into developing it. It had to be the one that is my ultimate. I mean, not so long ago I tried so many versions, that people loved but to me those were just basic. They were good of course, because I made them with love, but they had not yet reached this level of moistness with balanced sugars too. If you had made many banana breads before, you will notice that mine calls for less sugar, this is a result of discovering that, really ripe bananas add sweetness into the recipe that you do not need to add more than my recipe requires.
At the same time, I leave room for you to either use dark or milk chocolate in it. If you are a dark chocolate lover like I am, you would understand that in whatever you eat that has dark chocolate, it has to stand out somehow. Hence the sugars have to balance. Equally so, this recipe accommodates milk chocolate lovers too, without having to add more sugar, as the milk chocolate elevates the sweetness.
I have to tell you that, if hips could “lie”, this is the banana loaf I would eat alone and not share. But, I have to share, because sharing is caring:-)
Andiswa’s Kitchen Ultimate Chai-Choc Banana Bread
Equipment
- Loaf pan (20cm x 10cm x 7cm)
- Spatula
- Whisk
- Digital Scale
- 3 Mixing Bowls a mix of sizes
- Chopping board
- Knife
Ingredients
- 260 g Self-raising flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 400 g Ripe Bananas scaled after peeling
- 3 Eggs Extra Large
- 80 g Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
- Pinch of Salt
- 80 ml Canola Oil
- 3 Tablespoons Sour Cream
- 2 2 Teaspoons Chai Powder see note 1
- 150 Light Brown Sugar
- 50 g Brazilian Nuts see note 2
- 100 g 71% Dark Chocolate ( See note 3
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180℃
- Grease a loaf pan with butter and line it with baking paper.
- In a medium bowl mix flour, baking soda and chai powder. Set aside.
- Chop nuts and chocolate into small pieces. Set aside.
- Peel the bananas, weigh and mash them with a potato masher or the back of a fork until they become a puree. Set aside.
- Cream butter, oil and sugar until pale or fluffy. Add banana puree and mix until combined.
- Add eggs, one at a time and whisk.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Whisk until all is incorporated. Be careful not to over mix the batter.
- Add sour cream and whisk until it is well incorporated.
- Add the nuts and use a spatula to fold. Then fold in the chocolate.
- Transfer the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 55 minutes, after 30 open the oven and cover the pan with a foil (to prevent it from getting too dark).
- Take out the bread from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.
- Serve with coffee and good quality butter (optional).
Notes
- If you can’t find chai spice, you can use a teaspoon of cinnamon, ½ teaspoon of nutmeg and ginger
- With chocolate, you can use any type of chocolate you like too.
- Regarding the nuts, I love the crunchiness of the Brazilian nuts, but I know this could be a peculiar choice – so, if you don’t like them use either pecan nuts or walnuts.
