banana bread with dark chocolate chips

Banana Bread

Banana Bread with Dark Chocolate Chips

The biggest influence in my culinary life is my grandmother. When growing up, despite being 800 miles away and growing up on the ranch that rarely afforded us the opportunity to visit her, it was my grandmother’s cooking which inspired me as a young teenager to begin cooking on my own. Unfortunately I didn’t get to spend much side-by-side time with Grandma in the kitchen. However through the cookbooks I inherited from her, I’ve been able to explore and learn through her sources of inspiration.

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
6 ripe bananas
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups dark chocolate chips
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly grease 2 loaf pans.
Cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add bananas and mash with potato masher until the large chunks of banana are broken up. Beat in the eggs one at a time, and beat until well mixed. Stir in the vanilla extract and the chocolate chips.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir into banana mixture until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
Divide the batter between the loaf pans. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean (chocolate on the toothpick doesn't count) The house should be filled with the scent of fresh banana bread.
Cool on rack for 10 min. before removing from pans. Loosen the edges, then pop loose the bottom of the bread from the pan. Place on wire rack to finish cooling. Keeps wrapped in plastic for up to one week.