Recipe: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Watching trees lash around in the wind, leaves fluttering to the ground and rain pattering against the window pane, I decided it was time for some baking. Summer is no longer.

I dug through my blue recipe box for some inspiration and came across a well-loved card on which my mom had handwritten a recipe for chocolate chip banana bread. Do you still write recipe cards or do you have a recipe board on Pinterest?

We happened to have the ingredients I needed on hand:

Ingredients for one loaf:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
3 ripe bananas, sliced thin
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

So I set to work, preheating the oven to 176 C / 350 F and greasing a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.

The first step is to mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Next, combine the cream cheese and butter. This is meant to be done in an electric mixer, and will be easier if you have one. I don’t, so I just mix them well by hand. Beat at high speed until light and fluffy. (If you’re using a fork, my grandma would say it will take some elbow grease!)

Gradually add in the sugar.

Then add the egg and beat well.

The bananas (thinly sliced) come next, so you’ll want to make sure the slices are all evenly distributed throughout the batter. Alternatively, instead of slicing, it can be easier just to mash them depending on how ripe they are. Blend it up until it’s as smooth as possible.

Sprinkle in the dry ingredients (if you’re using a mixer, put it on low speed so you don’t get flour all over the place) and stir until they are well moistened.

Stir in the chocolate chips. I prefer to splurge on the semi-sweet chocolate chips for baking from one of the American shops in London (like Partridges) even though they are stupidly priced. The milk chocolate ones they sell in grocery stores here work as well but they are a bit too sweet when you’re used to the other ones.