Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

Since I don't have church until 1 pm, Sunday mornings are my time to do whatever I want. Writing, art projects, scripture reading, and most of all, baking and cooking. I try to have at least one new recipe to experiment with on Sundays. The ultimate relaxation to me is baking something I've never made before. I can take my time and have nothing else to think about but measuring, sifting, rolling, and so on. Most of the enjoyment I get from baking is the preparation; eating really is secondary for me. (Unless it's chocolate cake or something involving pastry cream. Then it's all about eating as much as I can until I hate myself and have to stop.) Today I tried something new with a banana bread recipe I've created over the past few months. And the results were so delicious I thought I'd share. Usually I'm not a fan of mixing banana and chocolate--I prefer to keep them in their own tasty categories--but this one just kind of cried out to be tried. So here is my recipe for Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. As with any recipe, be sure to read through the entire thing before beginning. Hope you like it!

Ingredients

3 (very) ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (room temp)
2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (I used Private Selection dark chocolate chunks)
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mash bananas and set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. (Use electric beaters only to cream these two. After this point, use a spatula or wooden spoon to stir.) Stir in eggs, mashed bananas, vanilla, almond extract, and cinnamon applesauce. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together. Add to the first mixture in two parts, stirring together each time until just combined. Stir in the dark chocolate chips. Place batter in greased pan* and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top before placing into the oven.

*Now you have a choice, a delicious choice--the best kind, really: You can either split the batter between two greased 9x5-inch loaf pans OR you can bake it in one greased 9x5-inch loaf pan. The difference? It depends on the size (height) you want your loaves to be. If you're used to a rectangular shape for your bread, split the batter between the two pans. But if you're like me and want a taller bread that will result in square-shaped slices, put the whole kit 'n kaboodle into one loaf pan. So the choice is yours; it just depends on the aesthetic you're going for. Here are the baking temperatures for each choice:

Two 9x5-inch loaf pans: Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Reduce heat to 275 degrees and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Makes two loaves.

One 9x5-inch loaf pan: Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Reduce heat to 275 degrees and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Makes one loaf.

Once the bread is out of the oven, let it cool in the pan before tossing it out onto a wire rack. Slice and serve as needed (in my case, needed=a lot). Really good with some cream cheese spread over it. Yum!