Who doesn’t love a tasty bread to serve for breakfast or as a treat or snack?  They are perfect to make ahead of time when you know company is coming to stay with you.  Then you can simply slice and put them on the table for everyone to enjoy.

My daughter has been rehearsing so hard for months, for her school’s musical this year.  She had a day off from rehearsals so she came home and decided she wanted to join me in the kitchen for a little baking!  I have missed Emma joining me in the kitchen lately.  I know she has been working on her parts for The Wizard of Oz performance, which I have to add that it was an amazing production.  I was so impressed by the talent from kids at such a young age.

This recipe was the first thing that came to Emma’s mind to bake.  The kids have always loved banana bread.  Of course some chocolate chips made their way into this one which makes it an even bigger treat!  I was teaching her ways to ensure a moist and flavorful bread.  One addition we came up with is the finely chopped and cooked apple.  You can add any type of apple you like or have on hand.  It was sort of comical; Emma came home from school and didn’t finish her lunch.  Her apple that I packed for her was still in her bag.  When she said she didn’t want to eat it yet, I said let’s figure out a way to use it in our recipe.  It is a great way to use up any fruit you have on hand and before it goes bad.   I am always looking for recipes to create to not only use up ingredients in the fridge but also in my fruit basket.  It is fun to see what we can create.

The apple gives the bread an extra dimension of flavor or sweetness and helps to keep the bread very moist.  We chop them fine, saute them and then run them through a food processor so it is smooth in the batter.  It was a perfect addition to this bread.  Everyone loved it.

Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to use up ingredients before they go bad? Would love to hear from you!

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Makes 1 Loaf

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cups, All-Purpose Flour

1 Teaspoon, Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon, Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon, Salt

3, Bananas, soft/very ripe

1 Cup, Sugar

1/2 Cup, Sour Cream

1 Teaspoon, Pure Vanilla Extract

1 Stick, Butter, unsalted & melted

2 Eggs

3/4 Cup, Chocolate Chips (semi-sweet)

1-2 Apples, peeled and finely diced

2 Tablespoons, Butter

2 Tablespoons, Sugar

Pinch, Salt

Confectioner’s Sugar to dust bread

Instructions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.  Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, set aside.

On the stove, heat a pan with the 2 Tablespoons of butter and sugar.  Add the finely chopped apple, a pinch of salt and cook until nice and soft.  As the apple is cooking, you can add a small amount of water if they start sticking to the pan.  Transfer the cooked apples to a food processor and pulse to chop them until somewhat smooth.  Set aside to completely cool.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix well and set aside.

Peel and mash the bananas.  In a standing mixer, add the sugar, mashed bananas, the sour cream and mix well.  Add the vanilla and the melted butter & mix again.  Add the eggs, 1 at a time and mix until all ingredients are combined.  Add the cooked apple to the batter and stir.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until all combined.   Add the chocolate chips and stir by hand or mix on low speed to incorporate them into the batter.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan.  Bake in oven for approx. 50-60 minutes or until done.  You want to be able to stick a knife into the center and have it come out clean.  Remove from oven, place on cooling rack.  Once cooled, remove from pan, remove parchment paper.  Place loaf onto a platter, dust with some confectioner’s sugar, slice and serve.

Mangia! Enjoy!

Notes

You can substitute Plain Greek Yogurt of Buttermilk for the Sour Cream.

I love adding the diced/cooked apple to this bread.  It gives it another dimension of flavor plus it helps to keep it super moist.  If you want to skip this setup or you want a healthier option to replace the butter, simply use Applesauce in place of the butter.  I add the cooked apples in addition to the butter I added.  I have also made this bread using applesauce and it is also very tasty.   If you are using a sweet apple no need to add any extra sugar to the apple when cooking it.  If using a tart apple I like to sprinkle a little sugar on it while cooking to get that sweetness.

Another great option is to use  apple butter in addition to or in place of the butter.

If you like nuts, you can chop and toast your favorite nuts to incorporate into the batter.  Walnuts or Pecans are a great addition to this bread.  Toasting the nuts brings out more flavor and it is so worth the extra step/few minutes it takes to do this.

I love to play around with different foods to see what kind of flavor it will give to a recipe.  Some of these options I have listed are great at keeping your bread/cake moist.