CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD
www.RecipeGirl.com
10 ounces pitted dried prunes
¾ cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium)
2 large eggs
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1½ tsp baking soda
½ cup banana chips, chopped coarsely
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1. In a small saucepan, bring prunes and 2 cups of water to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until prunes are very soft, about 20 minutes. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 5×9-inch loaf pan and line bottom with a piece of parchment paper, cut to fit.
3. In a food processor, whirl prunes and bananas until very smooth. Add eggs and whirl to combine.
4. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda. Stir in banana mixture until evenly moistened. Stir in banana chips and chocolate chips. Scrape the thick batter into pan and spread level.
5. Bake bread until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out a little chocolatey but not gooey, 40 to 50 minutes. Loosen bread from pan with a knife and invert onto a rack. Remove parchment. Turn bread right-side-up and let cool at least 1 hour before slicing.
Servings: 16
Yield: 16 slices
Cooking Tips
*Shortcut: Sub 10 oz. (1 1/4 cups) unsweetened prune baby food for the pitted prunes, and omit water and cooking in step 1.
Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving
Calories 162
Calories From Fat (28%) 45
Total Fat 5.58g
Saturated Fat 3.35g
Cholesterol 26.44mg
Sodium 190.53mg
Potassium 267.71mg
Carbohydrates 29.79g
Dietary Fiber 4.39g
Sugar 9.43g
Net Carbohydrates 25.40g
Protein 3.38g
WW Points: 4.5
Recipe Source: Adapted from Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta
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13 Comments
Wonderful! Just loved it!
Well done Lori!
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I CAN’T WAIT to try this recipe out this weekend!! It looks awesome!!
Question: How do you put your website address on your picture??
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Hey there,
I tried this recipe yesterday and my instincts told me it seemed a bit off, even for a recipe that isnt terribly sweet it seemed a bit wrong, then I added all that baking soda and crossed my fingers. It was pretty gross!
I wonder if there was supposed to be some added sugar/molasses/honey/agave syrup which would have also reacted with the baking soda? I used hersheys cocoa, maybe that has alkaline added….
I think I’ll brush a molasses solution on the slices to give it some acid and bake, then hope that it tastes a little better!
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Jennywenny- Oh no! No, there’s definitely not any added sugar in the recipe. I’ve checked & double checked and the recipe is almost identical to the one published in their cookbook. It worked wonderfully for me, so I’m not sure what happened w/ yours. Maybe it will taste better the next day? In any case, good luck… maybe it’s not for everyone.
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Recipegirl – did you use the prunes or the prune babyfood? I think I’ll try this.
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RecipeGirl Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 8:19 AM
D- I used regular prunes boiled w/water as the directions indicated. I believe the prune baby food would work just the same though.
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I made this with the baby food prunes and minus the banana chips. And it worked fine for me. While I didn’t really like the banana chocolate flavor together I still really like this bread!! I’m thinking about substituting a coffee yogurt for the banana and and instant coffee for the cinnamon and turn it into a chocolate mocha bread. What do you think?? Would that work??
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RecipeGirl Reply:
May 13th, 2009 at 5:05 AM
Melissa- I’m all about experimenting! Please try this and let me know how it works out. Good luck!
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made according to recipe, didn’t tell everyone prunes were in it, THEY LOVED IT.
My 18 yr old health nut loved it with added walnuts and flax seed mixed in.
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I’m printing this out and I’ll make it this weekend. I’ll let you know how it turns out
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I also tried this over the weekend and realized that after pulling it out of the oven I had forgotten to put sugar in it! I checked the recipe to see how much sugar I missed and then didn’t see it in there??? THe bread was okay, I salvaged it by smearing some peanut butter and honey on a slice. I will try again but add 1/2 c of brown sugar to the food processor. I also did not care for the banana chips or the cinnamon in it. Worth trying again though!
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I made this and thought it was amazing! Definitely didn’t miss the sugar and you can’t taste the prunes at all! Thanks for such a great recipe!
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Your stunning photo and recipe intrigued me, but since I am allergic to bananas, I substituted applesauce and walnuts instead of banana and banana chips (also added 1/4 cup of sugar, just in case). It was fantastic! I might try pumpkin puree next time…
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Pumpkin puree turned out to be an excellent substitute for the banans. Delicious!
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My first recipe girl recipe that I didn’t like. It’s healthy with no sugar, butter, oil, but not good!
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