The Most Chocolaty Banana Bread Ever

Let’s face it, breakfast is delicious. Regardless of the time of day, it usually hits the spot. Chocolate-chip-blueberry-pancakes for dinner; a sundried-tomato-mushroom-cheese omelet for lunch? Yes please! Needless to say, I’ll have breakfast three times (or more) a day any day.

Now, what happens when you combine a breakfast food with something even sweeter, like chocolate or peanut butter? You get a culinary phenomenon. Think about it. You can have it for breakfast, as a dessert, or even as a snack. Plus, adding chocolate and peanut butter (which is the case in the following recipe) usually makes everything better.

This recipe makes a mouthwatering banana bread, so flavorful that milk is necessary to cleanse your palate instead of dunking. It might not be the healthiest, but it still has five bananas in it, so it counts as part of the daily fruit intake.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread (adapted from How Sweet It Is)

Active time: 20 minutes. Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes + cooling.

Makes on large loaf

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoons salt

  

• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 ripe bananas, mashed
• ½ cup almond milk
• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, one of an electric mixer, cream butter and peanut butter until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat at low speed until combined. Add bananas and beat on low.
3. Slowly add dry ingredients, mixing until just combined; mixture will be heavy. Stir in milk until incorporated. Add chocolate chips and mix well.
4. Spray a 1 lb. loaf pan with baking spray and pour batter in. Place in oven and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.