Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Cocoa-Nana Swirled Bread



For this week's TWD rewind, I made this bread because I had two overripe bananas in my freezer waiting to be turned into something delicious. (However, next time I will use 3 bananas or add some milk or yogurt because it wasn't quite as moist as I like it).

I chose to do a marbled version of this chocolate banana bread because it's prettier and because I was skeptical of the cocoa-banana combo. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. It tasted wonderful. The cocoa part isn't overpowering and it actually complements the banana part wonderfully. Because I made quite a few adaptations to the recipe, I have included it below with my changes. The original is on page 46 of Dorie's book: Baking.



Coco-Nana Swirled Bread
1 loaf | Adapted from Dorie Greenspan

2 1/2 cups flour, divided
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine 2 cups flour, salt, baking soda and powder.
2. Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs, mixing well after each then add bananas, vanilla and buttermilk. Add flour mixture and mix just until combined.
3. Scoop 1/2 the batter into a separate bowl. Add 1/2 cup cocoa powder to one bowl of batter. Add 1/2 cup of flour to the other bowl and mix each by hand just to incorporate. Do not over mix.
4. Scoop batter into greased 9x5 inch pan, alternating spoons of white and chocolate batter. Run a thin knife through the batter in the pan a few times to marble. Bake for 60-75 minutes rotating halfway through (you may need to cover with foil if browning too quickly).

8 comments:

CheapAppetite said...

Banana and chocolate go well together:) I love banana bread. Added chocolate make it twice as yummy. Great work!

Snooky doodle said...

this ooks so nice and delicious :)

Cindy said...

This is a great recipe! Looks yummy.
Have a Merry Christmas.

Anonymous said...

i love the banana-chocolate combination! You made this look so pretty with the marbling effect, too. :) Merry Christmas, Tia!

alvarosa said...

Sounds like a cake-version of a banana-split :o]

Peggy the Baker said...

Chocolate and bananas--a great combination. I can almost taste your lovely cake, just by looking at the pictures.

Katrina said...

Looks like perfect marbling! Yum! Have a wonderful Christmas!

Flourchild said...

I remember pigging out on this bread:) It looks so good, your marbling is perfect!
I have loved all of your comments in the past three years! I will miss TWD!!