Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Chocolate Frosting
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It’s been a while since I baked a Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Chocolate Frosting so I am making one for this Valentine’s Day and for the love month.
Baking a banana bread loaf is one of the easiest treats to bake. Filipinos love dessert or merienda (snack time) and having a slice of this banana bread with a cup of coffee or tea is a favorite thing. The Philippines has an abundance of bananas, so I learned early on how to make use of over ripened ones by baking this loaf.
This recipe is my standard version of banana bread with the usual baking ingredients you might already have in your pantry. I admit I am unsure of this recipe’s origin. It’s one that was passed around the family so often over the years, that we lost track of who made it first.
To make this banana bread loaf special, I added chocolate chips into the batter. And after baking, I slathered on the rich, fudge-like, creamy Chocolate Frosting on top and on the sides.
A banana bead loaf is made from extremely fully ripe bananas, flour, eggs, sugar, baking powder and soda, and vanilla. One can mix the ingredients by hand easily. Pour it in a standard loaf pan and in a little less than an hour, the fragrant baked loaf is ready to come out of the oven. You can stop there and enjoy the moist, scrumptious loaf all by itself. But if you want it more decadent, you can whip up a few cups of chocolate frosting and spread it lavishly on top of the banana bread.
What Ingredients and Equipment You Need
- Bananas, about 3 to 4 to make at least one cup – must be very ripe. You do not need the perfect bananas for this recipe. Overripe bananas that are very squishy, too soft, and have a blackened outer skin are the best for this recipe. If you don’t have over ripe bananas, put the regular bananas you bought at the supermarket, which are still yellow-green in a brown paper bag, at room temperature. Wait for about 1 week and they will get over ripe on their own.
- All-purpose flour
- Eggs
- Butter – softened at room temperature
- Vanilla extract
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Semi sweet Chocolate chips
- Granulated sugar
- For the Chocolate Frosting : butter, chocolate powder, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla.
- Equipment : Loaf Pan, Mixing bowls, Wooden spoon, Cake mixer, measuring cups and spoons, angled cake spatula
How to Bake
Preheating the oven is important. Do not skip this step. Preheat the oven at least 8 to 10 minutes before you pop in the loaf pan. You can press the oven button right before you start assembling the ingredients.
My recipe does not need using the standard cake mixer for the batter. You can mix all the ingredients by hand, using a large wooden spoon, in a mixing bowl. That’s all there is to it. However, for the Chocolate Frosting, I suggest a hand mixer at the very least. You need the mixer for the frosting to get all creamy, yet with a texture that’s stiff enough to stay on the baked loaf, without dripping on the sides.
What does the Banana Bread Loaf with Chocolate Frosting taste like?
Like I always suggest, make sure all your ingredients are new or newly-purchased, at least within the last six months. If you don’t remember how long ago you’ve had that baking powder on the shelf, it’s time to get a new can.
The outcome of the banana bread loaf, in taste, texture, aroma and overall goodness depends not just on following the instructions closely, but on the freshness of the ingredients.
As soon as you take out the banana bread from the oven, the heavenly combination of the banana-chocolatey aroma will captivate you. You will need to restrain yourself from taking a slice. Let the loaf sit on the baking rack to cool first before you attempt to frost the cake.
After about 50 minutes, the baked banana bread would have cooled to room temperature. It should not be warm or else the frosting will melt and seep right through it.
Using an angled cake spatula, spread the chocolate frosting generously all over the top, and the sides. Level off the frosting with the spatula so it looks smooth. Slice away and get lost in the chocolate chips within the moist cake. And you don’t have to wait for the love month to bake this easy treat. You can indulge in this Banana Bread with chocolate chips and chocolate frosting again and again, any time.
Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Chocolate Frosting
Equipment
- Large Loaf Pan – 9 ¼ x 5 ¼ inches
- Mixing bowls – large
- Cake Mixer
- Wooden spoon
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Angled spatula – for frosting cake
Ingredients
For the Banana Bread
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine, softened at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 whole large over ripe mashed bananas; to make 1 cup
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 whole eggs
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
For the Chocolate Frosting:
- ¼ cup melted unsalted butter
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ⅛ cup milk
- 1 ½ cups confectioner's sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips
- Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees.Prepare the loaf pan: Grease the bottom and sides. Place a piece of parchment paper that fits at the bottom. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix together the following: softened butter, sugar, salt, mashed bananas, flour, baking powder and soda, eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Blend ingredients well by hand.
- Fold in the cup of chocolate chips. Mix well so that the chocolate chips are evenly distributed.
- After the batter has been mixed well and is smooth, pour it into the prepared loaf pan.Bake at 375 F degrees for about 55 minutes.
- Pierce the top middle of the loaf with the tip of a sharp knife or a toothpick. If knife or toothpick comes out clean from the center, the cake loaf is done.Remove the loaf from the oven. Cool on the counter for about 10 minutes, till it is easy to manage.Loosen the sides with a sharp knife. Invert the banana loaf and cool on a cake rack. The banana bread must be completely cool before adding the frosting on top, like at least 55 to 60 minutes.Tip: If banana bread is still warm inside and out, the chocolate frosting will tend to melt and seep through the cake loaf. You don't want this to happen.While the cake is cooling, prepare the Chocolate Frosting.
To make the Chocolate Frosting:
- Place the butter in a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl.Melt the butter in the microwave on High for 1 minute. Add about 15 seconds more if needed. Let the butter come down to room temperature before mixing with the other ingredients.
- Using an electric cake mixer, mix in the cocoa powder into the melted butter. Blend well till the creamy liquid is smooth and cocoa has incorporated evenly.
- Alternately, add a teaspoon of the milk, with a few tablespoons of the confectioner's sugar (about half a cup at a time). Repeat adding the milk and confectioner's sugar alternately.Begin with the milk, and end with the sugar.Pour the vanilla and continue mixing till frosting is smooth about 5 minutes more.
- The chocolate frosting should form stiff peaks and must be able to stand on its own. Cover the bowl of frosting with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 40 minutes to be manageable and stiff enough.This frosting recipe yields about 1 ½ cups, just the right amount to cover the banana bread loaf on top and on the sides.
To frost the Banana Bread:
- After at least 1 hour, the banana bread would have cooled down. TIP: If it is still warm to the touch, wait a few minutes longer to let it cool. It is not wise to frost a newly-baked cake if it is still warm – the frosting will melt.
- Place the banana bread on a cake platter.Using an angled spatula, spread the Chocolate Frosting all over the cake, starting with the top, and moving to the sides. Cover the entire banana bread evenly on top and all sides.TIP: For a fancy, decorative effect, use the back of a spoon to make indentations on the cake frosting, so it looks like little waves.Slice and serve the cake in individual dessert plates.
Cook's comments:
- To store leftovers of the banana bread with frosting (if there are any left), keep covered and refrigerated. This keeps in the ref for about 5 to 7 days.To store in the freezer, with or without the frosting: keep in a freezer-safe plastic container. This keeps in the freezer for about 1 month.
- Freeze over ripe bananas: If you have a batch of over ripe bananas and don't have time to bake at the moment, do not fret. You can freeze over ripened bananas. Mash the bananas and keep in a plastic container and freeze. This can keep frozen for 1 to 2 months. When you're ready to bake, thaw the frozen bananas till slightly soft and add to the batter to mix. I do freeze over ripe bananas all the time, and the baking outcome has been superb.
Nutrition
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