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."
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."
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!
Dark Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread
slightly adapted by: PPK, IsaChandra
Ingredients
¾ cup white sugar
½ cup canola oil (or whatever oil you prefer)
3 very ripe bananas, mashed well
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup vanilla almond milk (or whatever milk you prefer), mixed with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
½ 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 ½ 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 ½ 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 ½ 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?
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!
Chocolate and banana are always yummy for all bakes. This is great.
Just when I decided I was not going to bake anything this week, you tempted me.
Grey skies demand chocolate on the table. Yummy post.
Unbelievably delish!
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.)
It looks amazingly DELICIOUS! I am sure we will ALL love it at home!
Have a great week.
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!
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 🙂
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!
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.
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!
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!
omg, you are torturing me now!
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!
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.
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!!
Oh wow! That looks... I mean... WOW.
I can see the moistness, and dark chocolate goes so very well with bananas... mmmm!
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!
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??? 🙁