My favorite way to eat a banana is definitely in bread. I love all of the sweet quick breads that are full of vegetables or fruit of some kind and become nearly indistinguishable once they are baked inside a loaf.
I used to have a continuous supply of old bananas that I would throw in my freezer and wait for a rainy day...or really any weathered day that needed some baking or comfort food. However.....I have recently realized that my son is part monkey and apparently he needs to eat four bananas a day...or however many are on the shelf. The ONLY reason that this banana bread got made at all was because I noticed it was a four banana day (I followed the banana peels...another issue with this snack) and decided it was best to hide the other three bananas. I hid them so very well that nobody ate them at all and I found them just in the knick of time. HAZAH!
I made these after dinner and I think my desire for something sweet and dessert like may have influenced my baking a bit. These "muffins" are very moist, incredibly delicious and gooey. They are sweetened only with banana and a wee bit of agave. They remind me of a cross between brownies and banana bread. I did sprinkle a little bit of chopped chocolate on top...just because I wanted to! I am not sure if these could be classified as healthy or even a breakfast type thing. But I say why label it! Just eat it!
Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Bread
- 3 bananas (ripe and too gross to eat at room temp)
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1/3 cup agave
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup gluten free flour mix (almond flour will work, however, I still am loving the Trader Joe's all purpose gluten free flour)
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- Chopped chocolate/chopped nuts *optional
Pre-heat oven to 350
Mash the bananas and whisk in the butter until well mixed.
No real way to make old bananas look appealing
Add the agave and vanilla.
Whisk the eggs in one egg at a time.
Sprinkle the baking powder and salt on top and allow to fizz a bit.
Mix in the flour cinnamon and cocoa powder.
I love the fudgey texture that cocoa powder lends to a recipe
Place in your baking dish oiled and floured or lined with parchment. They will cook a lot faster in a muffin tin, so the time will change if you are making it in a loaf pan.
Put the chopped chocolate or nuts on top and bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Big chunks of chocolate waiting to be melted to perfection in the oven
Chocolate banana bread standing proud just before it was eaten
Still very proud that I got a picture of this mid bite...that nearly never happens