Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

What do you do with over-ripe bananas?  I don’t mean what can you “make with them”.  I mean, you see them on the counter, a little soft with unsightly brown spots and it’s 7:30 a.m. on a Tuesday morning.  What do you do?  That’s not exactly prime baking time, right?  Sure, you could toss them in a blender and make a potassium rich smoothie, or you could procrastinate, like me.  And stick them in the freezer until you’re ready for something good!

Consequently, when I checked yesterday, I had a freezer-full of brown bananas.  Literally 14 bananas were in a frozen hibernation on the top shelf.  Seriously.  I may have let this go too long…

When that happens, you need a recipe that makes good use of that past-its-prime fruit.  Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.   

I like this recipe for several reasons, the first being that it calls for 2 cups of mashed bananas – or 5 bananas from my chilly stash.  Additionally, it has no oil or butter, so it’s low in fat, but it has so much fruit that the result is moist and tender.

And then there’s the mix-ins.  Chocolate chips and toasted walnuts.  I mean, you could skip them, but WHY?

This recipe makes three generous loaves, so you can enjoy one for now and freeze the rest for later.  

Did I really just say that?  Wasn’t I trying to eliminate the bananas from my freezer?

Ok, so you can enjoy one and gift the others to your neighbor.  Or the mailman….  Somebody take this banana bread off my hands!

Luckily, Emily is coming home for a visit this weekend and banana bread happens to be one of her favorites!  Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with crunchy walnuts will send her into another dimension!  Who loves ya, baby?

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings: 24

Calories: 218kcal

This low-fat banana bread is moist and tender with toasty chopped walnuts and chocolate chips!

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 cups overripe bananas mashed
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup miniature chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon flour
• 1 cup walnuts toasted

For topping:

• 1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare three 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pans. Spray with vegetable spray. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the loaf pan and lay it in.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Blend on medium speed for about 5 minutes until thick and light colored. Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla and blend until combined.
• In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir to distribute ingredients.
• Add flour to wet ingredients in three additions, being careful not to over mix the batter.
• In the same bowl you used for the flour, add the chocolate chips. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon flour and mix with your fingers until chocolate chips are dusted with flour. Stir the chips and toasted walnuts into the batter.
• Divide the batter evenly between the three prepared loaf pans. 
• Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown and cake tester comes out clean.
• Divide the remaining chocolate chips and walnuts over the top of the three loaves.
• Cool on a rack for 20 minutes, then turn out the bread -- removing the parchment paper. Serve.

Notes

Banana bread freezes well. Wrap it in saran wrap, then in freezer paper. Keeps up to two months in the freezer, but if your family knows it's there -- it won't last.

Nutrition

Calories: 218kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 167mg | Potassium: 211mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 85IU | Vitamin C: 1.7mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 1.1mg

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