Monday, April 18, 2011

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread and Muffins

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When I worked as a medical secretary, one of my coworkers, T, always brought in yummy sweets and baked goods for everybody to enjoy. She is a grandmother and used to own a chocolate shop before "retiring" to work as a secretary so you can be sure that everything she made was amazing! We would munch on cookies, muffins, candies and chocolate all day. I gained weight but I was oh-so-happy. My favorite thing from her was without doubt her chocolate chip banana bread. It was out-of-this-world good! Just thinking about it puts my salivary glands into overdrive. And the funny thing is that I hate bananas! Yup, it is THAT good!

Of course, I asked her for the recipe but like great culinary minds, she doesn't have one. She says that she uses the bananas she has on hands and then - I quote - "throws everything together" haha. I can't "throw things together". When I do, it ends up in a complete mess. When I stopped working there, I started having banana bread withdrawal symptoms: hallucinations (I saw banana breads everywhere!), uncontrollable salivation, lack of concentration and irritability - it was getting bad and I needed some banana bread! I desperately looked on Allrecipes and found this banana bread recipe which had a very good rating. The bread came out very moist and I enjoyed it. Although it is not as orgasmic as T's banana bread, it satisfied my craving...for now. :)

banana-bread-chocolate-chips-muffins
I also made muffins. These were great for breakfast!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Makes one 5x9 inch loaf and 12 muffins or two 5x9 inch loaves
Adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients
1 cup shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
6 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional - I didn't use any...allergies!)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Stir in the mayonnaise, bananas and vanilla extract.
3. Stir together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Blend the flour mixture into the banana mixture; stir just enough to evenly combine. Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 to 75 minutes for the loaf and about 20 minutes for the muffins. Cool loaf in the pan for 20 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

banana-bread-chocolate-chip-french-vanilla-ice-cream-2
Banana bread topped with french vanilla ice cream and fudge for a super sweet and high caloric dessert, but incredibly satisfying! Nom nom!

1 comments:

Chip said...

snif snif.. i miss your posts :(

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