Surprise your kids with this Double Chocolate Banana Bread when they get off the bus, because nothing says “welcome home” better than banana bread!
For many, last week was the first week back to school. My little one starts Pre-K on Monday and he couldn’t be more excited! (I can’t wait as well…a few items on my “to do” list might actually get done!) This summer definitely goes down in the books as one of the best ever! We welcomed Rowan into the world, spent endless hours on the beach and made memories to last a lifetime, but I’m ready for things to slow down a bit. It will be nice to get back into a routine, cook more meals at home and enter into hibernation mode. I don’t know about you, but banana bread has slow down and relax written all over it!
This isn’t your typical banana bread recipe that is loaded with butter and saturated fat. Instead applesauce is used to give it a fluffy texture. Sweetened naturally by ripe bananas and maple syrup and of course a few chocolate chips are tossed in for good measure!
I used a combination of whole wheat pastry flour and ground old-fashioned oats for added fiber and nutrients, but you can simply use whole wheat pastry flour if you prefer. If you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour use whole wheat flour and a half white flour.
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats (ground into a flour)
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- ¼ cup cacao powder or high quality cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoons baking soda
- ¾ teaspoons salt
- 3 ripe bananas (mashed), 1 heaping cup
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- ⅓ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- ¼ cup soy or almond milk
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips plus ¼ cup for topping (I like using Enjoy Life chocolate chips)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x4 baking pan with natural cooking spray and set aside.
- Place old-fashioned oats in a high speed blender or food processor and blend until a flour is formed.
- In a large bowl add oat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, cacao powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, add mashed bananas, maple syrup, apple sauce, milk and vanilla. Stir until well combined.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and lightly stir together until just mixed. Don't over mix!
- Fold in chocolate chips and transfer batter to baking pan. Top with ¼ cup chocolate chips.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean and edges are pulling away from side of pan.
- Let bread cool, slice and enjoy!
At only 157 calories and 4 grams of fat per slice, this is a healthier way to satisfy that sweet tooth!
Double Chocolate Banana Bread…double chocolate, enough said!
Happy Friday 
