How to Make a Delicious Chocolate Banana Loaf
Banana Loaf
Making this loaf is simple, effective, and great to get the kids involved. If you are anything like me, you always have some bananas left over which are staring to go too ripe to eat. This recipe is a great way of using them up using items which you probably have in and around the kitchen.
Though this takes a while in the oven the general prep and mixing is relatively quick, so the oven does all the hard work for you.
In my house we are lucky if this loaf survives the day, however if you do need to store it, I would recommend up to 1 week in an airtight container. It is also a great success at any work or social events that you want to contribute a baked item.
Most banana loaf recipes have quite a lot of dried fruit and nuts in it however in this one I replaced those with chocolate, and it works so well.
I hope you all enjoy making and eating this as much as I do!
Cook Time
Tips for Success
You can cream the butter and sugar together in a food processor or standard mixer. This is much easier than doing it by hand. Once it is done then it is just a case of stirring in the rest of the ingredients in order.
Milk chocolate is the best for this recipe, I use quite a cheap baking version and chop up the bar, the fragments tend to stay mixed into the loaf more than chocolate chips do. I have often found that the chips eventually sink towards the bottom.
The banana weight is without the skins on as they add so much to the weight, I have put 4 to 5 as it really depends on the size. As long it is around 450g it doesn’t really matter on the number. I use them when they are over ripe and mostly look black from the outside but haven’t started to turn bad.
Ingredients
- 75g/3oz Butter or margarine, Softened
- 175g/6oz Caster Sugar
- 2 Eggs, Lightly Beaten
- 450g/1lb (4 to 5) Ripe peeled bananas, Mashed
- 200g/7oz Self Raising Flour
- 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
- 100g/4oz milk cooking chocolate, chopped into fine pieces
- A pinch of Salt
Instructions
- Cream together the butter or margarine and sugar until pale and fluffy. This is best done in a food processor or a stand mixer
- Gradually stir in the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture. After the eggs have combined, stir in the mashed bananas. Stir well
- Stir in the chopped chocolate. Ensure this is well combined into the mixture, this ensures when the dry ingredients are added the chocolate stays throughout the loaf
- Mix in all the remaining ingredients (flour, bicarb and salt) a bit at a time until they are well blended. The mixture will appear quite runny and wet but is fine and will bake well.
- Spoon the mixture into a greased and baking paper lined 900g/2lb loaf tin
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180oC/350oF/gas mark 4 for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until well risen and firm to the touch
More Chocolate Goodies
- Quick and Simple Chocolate Butter Biscuits
These biscuits are fun to make and tatse delicious. Kids love to play with the dough and can really get stuck in. - How to Make a Simple Chocolate Ganache
This is a simple recipe to make a great cake covering or dessert topping. - Double Chocolate Brownies
These brownies are delicious. There are many recipes out there for chocolate brownies. These are easy to make and versatile. To take them to the next level try covering them in Chocolate Ganache.
