Chocolate Chip and Butterscotch Banana Bread

Chocolate Chip and Butterscotch Banana Bread

Baked BreadI’m not sure why, but seeing overripe bananas and having to toss them hurts me. I’m also not sure why, but spending $10 on ingredients required to make banana bread to save $0.50 worth of bananas doesn’t bother me at all.

Chips and Flour

Chips and Flour

This banana bread is gilded with chocolate and butterscotch chips that give the plain version a major facelift. The resulting product is moist and chocolaty.

Ingredients:

  • ¾ cup butterscotch chips
  • ¾ cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
  • ¾  tsp. Kosher salt
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature and lightly beaten
  • ¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 3 overripe bananas, mashed
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil
Banana Mixture

Banana Mixture

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter or coat a 9-by-5 loaf pan with nonstick spray.
  2. Combine the butterscotch and chocolate chips in a small bowl. Set 3 tablespoons of the mixture aside for later use.
  3. Bread Batter

    Bread Batter

    Sift the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Leaving the 3 tablespoon of chips out, add the remaining chips to the flour and toss to coat.

  4. Using a wooden spoon, combine the eggs, brown sugar, sugar, banana and oil in a larger bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and combine gently making sure to not over-mix. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining chips on the surface of the batter.
  5. Bake 60 minutes or just until a toothpick comes out mostly crumb-free when inserted in the center of the loaf. Cool on a rack for 30 minutes, then unmold and cool completely.

Sliced BreadNotes: Bread may be stored at room temperature up to 3 days wrapped airtight in plastic wrap. May be frozen, well-wrapped, up to 1 month. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator.

Servings: 8

Adapted from this The Daily Meal recipe.

Easy Banana Bread

Easy Banana Bread

Not sure why, but the thought of throwing away over-ripe bananas drives me nuts.  Instead, I’ll spend a few bucks to save four $0.35 bananas – not logical, but makes for a treat everyone enjoys.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 cup (1stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 4 over-ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl – set aside.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes.  Add the eggs, beating well after each one, add the bananas and beat for 1 minute.
  4. Pour the banana / butter mixture into flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined – do not overmix.  Pour batter into a lightly grease 9×5 inch loaf pan and sprinkle walnuts over the top (if using walnuts).
  5. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out with just a few moist crumbs.  Remove the banana bread from the oven and let  cool in pan for 15 minutes, then unmold and cool completely on a wire rack.

Notes: I like chunks of banana in my banana bread so I typically squeeze and knead the bananas while they’re still in the peel.  By the time I’m done with this fun task, all I need to do is remove the peels and add the ‘mashed’ bananas to the batter.