Stir Up Some Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

One of my family’s favorite recipes is Chocolate Chip Banana Mini Loaves. I have been making this easy quick bread since my sons were little boys. All their friends have enjoyed warm slices of this moist bread over the years. I usually keep a couple of loaves of this bread in the freezer so it’s ready whenever I have visitors. One of my younger son’s friends loves this recipe so much I made him a couple of loaves as his high school graduation gift. You should have seen the smile on his face!

It’s easy to make and doesn’t require any unusual ingredients. The key is to use very ripe bananas. I often buy extra bananas, allow them to get really ripe, place them in a plastic re-sealable food freezer bag (leave the peels on) and throw them in the freezer. That way I always have bananas ready to use – they only take about 30 minutes to thaw at room temperature. Don’t worry if the peel turns black, the bananas are still good.

You might want to start by mashing the bananas. Just smoosh them with a fork until they are soft and no chunks are left.

Mixing up the batter is a breeze.  First mix together the sugar and butter and then add the eggs.

Next, add the mashed bananas and vanilla.

By hand, stir in all the remaining ingredients being careful not to over-stir.  Stop when you cannot see any flour.

Spoon the batter into greased and floured mini loaf pans. If you don't have mini loaf pans, try the dispoable foil mini loaf pans that most grocery stores carry.

Now they're ready to go into the oven.  An easy way to tell if a loaf is done is to insert a toothpick into the center of the loaf and pull it back out.  If there is no batter clinging to the toothpick, the loaf is done.  Let the breads cool in their pans for 5 minutes and then take the breads out of the pans.

Store the loaves in the refrigerator or freeze them like I do.  We like to serve the bread warm because the chocolate chips get soft and gooey - YUM! I usually just slice the bread and warm the slices in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds.  Watch out, this bread will not be around for long. My boys and their friends can eat an entire loaf each in just a few minutes.

Here is a link to the recipe.

Come back on Thursday and read about some great burgers you could grill this weekend!