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Dark Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread

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I know you may be expecting some pie recipes from me. I did send out on twitter a photo of what I baked for Thanksgiving, and there was a new pie in the mix. That pie will be appearing this week. Frankly, I’m sort of over pies for a moment. Ever since I took the last bite of Thanksgiving pie, I’ve had CHOCOLATE on my mind.

I bake a serious amount of banana breads every month. In my opinion, it’s the most logical thing to make with bananas going mushy. It’s the perfect breakfast and after school snack. I tend to buy an excessive amount of bananas just so I can make more banana breads. I usually throw in a handful of chocolate chips. 
I came across this recipe and I had to try it. Like, immediately! I did make it right before bed. The smell of chocolate and bananas baking was just perfect. I was dreaming of taking that first bite after I quickly shuffled the kids off to bed. They could get their piece in the morning for breakfast.
I took the bread out of the oven and noticed it shrunk in size. To be specific, in half. How could it be? I followed the recipe exactly as it was written. I make Isa’s other banana bread recipe every week. I compared the recipes trying to figure out where I went wrong. I thought maybe it was my baking soda gone bad. 
I didn’t give up. I waited about a week and tried the same recipe again. Before making the recipe, I scanned the web and found other food bloggers that had massive success with this banana bread recipe. I thought it maybe was just a fluke the first time when it wasn’t perfectly fluffy as I was hoping it would turn out. It wasn’t a fluke. May I present to you, “Marbled Banana Bread Fail, Part 2.” 
The one on the left (obviously) is the one that did not turn out right.

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My mom came over that morning to do some baking with us for Thanksgiving. We talked about why a recipe sometimes does not go as planned. Fresh ingredients. Measuring accurately. Being sure to not over mix.  Not assuming you can make a recipe even if you’ve made a similar recipe before. 
I discussed it some more with Marisa (my next door neighbor)as I handed her over the back fence a chunk of the successful banana bread and the one that was not so good. She happily welcomed flat/unattractive banana bread and said her daughter loves breads that are mushy like that.
I asked Marisa at the fence, “How could it turn out terribly twice when I saw a few other bloggers make the exact same bread and theirs turned out perfectly like the photo.” We discussed the baking soda possibility (but I used the same baking soda in the successful banana bread). Maybe my bananas were too ripe. Eric (her husband)said maybe it is the altitude (funny, Eric!). Marisa shrugged and smiled, “Blame it on the Santa Ana winds.”

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And so I blamed it on the Santa Ana Winds.  I had to let the first recipe go. The recipe just did not work for me.  I decided to take charge and make the banana bread work. I couldn’t give up. I used Isa’s other banana bread recipe that is incredible. I melted chocolate chips instead of using cocoa powder mixed with boiling water as it is in the other recipe. Moist, rich, decadent; this banana bread is delicious and I suggest doubling the recipe because one is simply not enough. 
Holy cow it is torture looking at these photos knowing there isn’t any left to eat at this very moment. Make this bread. Hurry!:) It is vegan (without regular milk, eggs, or butter), but you won't miss those ingredients. If you want to use real milk, go ahead and do it. The oil and bananas make it super moist. If you want the link to the original recipe, here it is. If you make it and have a smashing success, go ahead, write me and brag about it! It is also absolutely gorgeous!
As for pumpkin love and the post I never got to writing, I decided instead to Pin my favorite pumpkin recipes on Pinterest as a board. If you have one you’d like me to Pin, send me the link.:)

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Dark Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread

slightly adapted by: PPK, IsaChandra

Ingredients

3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup canola oil (or whatever oil you prefer)
3 very ripe bananas, mashed well
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup vanilla almond milk (or whatever milk you prefer), mixed with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 8×4 bread pan with non stick cooking spray, or lightly coat with margarine. Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until almost melted, stirring until smooth (or melt chocolate in double boiler on low heat stirring constantly).Cool slightly.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.

Cream together the oil and sugar. Add bananas, milk and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix well.  Add 1 cup batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined. Spoon alternate 1/2 cupfuls of chocolate batter with plain batter into an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan lined with parchment paper coated with cooking spray. Don't get caught up with precision. When batter is all in the pan, swirl the batter around gently with a butter knife. Don't overswirl or you will take away the marbled pattern.

Bake for a 1/2 hour at 350 F. Lower heat to 325 for the remaining time (about another 30-45 minutes), or until a skewer inserted in middle comes out clean.

*I always lower my oven 1/2 way through baking b/c the bread gets too brown baked all the way through at 350 F. If you don’t have that issue with your oven, bake all the way at 350 F.

How was your Thanskgiving ? What was your favorite part of the day?

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jessica / Green Skies and Sugar Trips says

    CLUTCH. MY. PEARLS.....

    WOW..this sounds and looks SO good. So good that I want some right now!

    Why did I just start a diet??? 🙁

    Reply

  2. Angie's Recipes says

    I just told myself not to indulge in so much baked stuff...and now I came to read your chocolate banana loaf..sighs...I guess I wouldn't be able to stay away from the sweets before new year arrives...
    The loaf looks gorgeous!

    Reply

  3. Kiri W. says

    Oh wow! That looks... I mean... WOW.
    I can see the moistness, and dark chocolate goes so very well with bananas... mmmm!

    Reply

  4. Farmgirl Gourmet says

    Gorgeous!! What a beautiful bread. I have the same issues from time to time when I make banana bread. Not sure why it happens. Could be barometric pressure too. Who knows. Looks great though!!

    Reply

  5. The Mom Chef says

    I admit that I would have given up after the second try. I'm impressed that you pressed on and came up with something so amazing. It does look delicious.

    Reply

  6. Junia says

    i am totally bookmarking this! i love how this banana bread is vegan and has no butter in it! and who can resist marble swirls in bread? beautiful!

    Reply

  7. Jennifurla says

    omg, you are torturing me now!

    Reply

  8. Sandra says

    I love that you didn't give up and how your bread look, and would love it right now instead of my cereals:)) Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful Monday!

    Reply

  9. Carolyn says

    Wow, girl, that is dedication that you kept going when they didn't turn out. I always have to take a break from the recipe and come back to it, sometimes months later. The final version looks delicious!

    Reply

  10. Priscilla - She's Cookin' says

    The final version looks gorgeous - I'm glad it finally turned out for you! I'll tell my daughter to blame the Santa Ana winds for the vegan pumpkin pie she made for Thanksgiving that didn't turn out.

    Reply

  11. Asmita says

    Wow, this cake looks so good. Looks like it's a banana cake day! Just posted a recipe for old fashioned banana cake.
    Your cake looks fabulous!

    Reply

  12. Lizzy says

    I'm glad your perseverance paid off...your banana bread looks amazing. I know my kids would love this (especially with the chocolate!) for breakfast! Hope you had a fabulous turkey day...can't wait to see your pie 🙂

    Reply

  13. Dionne Baldwin says

    You did such an incredible job on this bread! I hope you don't take it personally. I have seen you create some really incredible things and I know you are such a talented baker. It can be quite puzzling though for sure. Thank you for sharing this beautiful bread! I will be making this one for sure and I love having go-to vegan recipes!

    Reply

  14. Mari @ Mari's Cakes says

    It looks amazingly DELICIOUS! I am sure we will ALL love it at home!

    Have a great week.

    Reply

  15. Karen says

    I think I would've cut my losses, but your end result looks perfect! Good for you to keep trying. I could go for a huge slice of this right now! (I have made your other banana bread recipe so I may have to try this one too.)

    Reply

  16. Emily Malloy says

    Unbelievably delish!

    Reply

  17. Carol Egbert says

    Grey skies demand chocolate on the table. Yummy post.

    Reply

  18. Sandra says

    Just when I decided I was not going to bake anything this week, you tempted me.

    Reply

  19. Zoe says

    Chocolate and banana are always yummy for all bakes. This is great.

    Reply

  20. Monet says

    I loved seeing my family...and sharing so many great eats! And how perfect that I'm baking a loaf of banana bread right now?!? I hope mine looks as tasty as yours does! Thank you for sharing, Lora!

    Reply

  21. Barbara | Creative Culinary says

    I love banana and chocolate together; it's like banana split bread, well minus the strawberries, ice cream and maraschino cherry. 🙂

    Reply

  22. Amalia says

    This sounds fantastic, the chocolate and banana, yum! It looks so delicious, I love marble cakes even though I've never made one before...I definitely need to get on that!

    Reply

  23. Ilke says

    Looks amazingly good, chocolate and banana are a good pair, I think even better than strawberry-chocolate!
    Sometimes things happen. At least you have some winds to blame. I always blame the Southern humidity 🙂

    Reply

  24. Sanura // MyLifeRunsOnFood.com says

    I'm swooning at this banana and chocolate bread idea. Quick question: When you add a teaspoon of vinegar to the almond milk, are you making a vegan-type of buttermilk? For example, if someone wanted to make vegan buttermilk pancakes, could they use the almond/nut milk and vinegar mix as a substitute?

    Reply

  25. Becky says

    Lora-I had a similar failure with banana bread, and then I read in Cook's magazine to flour the bread pan, after it is greased. I now do that every time I make quick bread, and haven't had a shrunken loaf.

    I also admire you your perseverance to finally get a beautiful loaf of bread!

    Reply

  26. Nancy says

    I can see the that kitchen gremlins made a visit to your kitchen! Sometimes a recipe fails for no apparent reason and I always attribute it to the gremlins!! Good for you for persevering!

    Reply

  27. Lisa {Authentic Suburban Gourmet } says

    OMG - this looks just simply divine! Just home from work and saw your post and I just wish that I had a slice right now. Hope your thanksgiving was wonderful!

    Lisa

    Reply

  28. Lo-mo says

    I love the looks of this banana bread!! Dark chocolate and banana, together?? Divine! Too bad the first recipe didn't turn out...I wonder why? So glad the other loaf turned out, looks fabulous Lora!

    Reply

  29. Anonymous says

    This looks amazing! I love chocolate and banana combination!

    Reply

  30. Chris @ TheKeenanCookBook says

    This looks delicious! I love banana bread, but I love chocolate more. Great combo. I'd love to learn why the first load didn't turn out so great. Were the ingredients not at room temp, perhaps?

    Reply

  31. Katrina {In Katrina's Kitchen} says

    Those darn Santa Ana Winds! Lol!!! Great liaf though - I'm happy you stuck it out. I have had plenty of flops too.

    Reply

  32. Savoring Italy says

    Hi Chris-Every thing was room temp. Becky says maybe b/c I didn't flour the pan?I didn't flour this last one that did succeed so am still not sure. Could be the gremlins like Nancy said;)
    Hi Sanura-Yes, that is exactly what it does:)I do that w/my waffles and they are just wonderful:)
    Thank you for all the sweet comments:)xx

    Reply

  33. Shulie says

    This chocolate marbled banana cake looks perfect!! sometimes we hot a snag, I saw a recipe recently that an ingredient was listed but didn't appear in instruction, so I admire your determination to get it right. 🙂

    Reply

  34. Lauren at Keep It Sweet says

    That looks moist and delicious! I wish I knew how to get sick of pie, cookies or any kind of baked good...

    Reply

  35. Julie at Burnt Carrots says

    I have such a difficult time baking too, which is why I like cooking better. If it doesn't turn out well, you simply just add more butter or cream! I'm happy to hear it turned out well in the end!

    Reply

  36. Maria says

    Such a pretty and tasty loaf of bread!

    Reply

  37. Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says

    fabulous! My mouth is officially watering

    Reply

  38. Rachel says

    The good loaf turned out beautiful! I've always wanted to try this idea for hubs but he always makes a funny face at me when I suggest it lol. Maybe I'll just do it and make him eat it haha

    Reply

  39. Rosita Vargas says

    Una belleza exquisita,me encanta abrazos hugs,hugs.

    Reply

  40. Baking Serendipity says

    I am so glad that you didn't give up! This bread looks fantastic...I make banana bread often too with our mushy bananas, but haven't added the chocolate...must try!

    Reply

  41. Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says

    Those darn Santa Ana winds!! Glad you were able to get it right! I love that you also added chocolate!

    Reply

  42. Anonymous says

    I love chocolate and bananas. What a beautiful bread you have made!

    Reply

  43. Jamie says

    Too funny! That first loaf is sad indeed, but we've all had that result! The next batch looks scrumptious, indeed! Am I invited for coffee and cake?

    Reply

  44. kita says

    I can't even tell you how many times I have had a recipe flop - and you are miles ahead of me because I often don't go back for a second try. I have had soda issues in the past with cookies. It was sooo sad. It also makes me super sad to know not only am I really late catching up on blog loving but there is a 100% chance of no leftovers to mail to me. I love banana bread and the second attempt looks divine.

    Reply

  45. Judit @WineDineDaily says

    I could use a slice or two from this delicilous chocolate banana bread.
    Cheers 🙂

    Reply

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