Banana Bread with Dark Chocolate Swirl

I'm a quick bread kind of girl.

Sure, cupcakes are pretty and all, but they're also high maintenance. I mean, each one has to have its own little paper dress and fancy hair do.

And don't even get me started on custards. Really, custard? You have to have a bath in the oven? Can you be any more demanding?

But quick breads...

Quick breads are another story. They are baking in its truest form. No special equipment, no shaping, piping, rolling, or kneading. Just a few basic pantry ingredients and a couple turns of the spatula gives you a scrumptious bread that can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dessert. Low maintenance and fuss free. It's my kind of baking.

This banana bread is ultra moist without being oily (ummm, gross!), and has a noticeable but not overwhelming banana flavor. The dark chocolate swirl is, of course, a totally unnecessary indulgence, but hey, when else am I going to be able to justify eating chocolate for breakfast?

Carve out just 20 minutes to whip this up and enjoy the pure, simple loveliness of homemade banana bread. No need for frosting. The jam can stay in the fridge. It's beautiful and delicious, just the way it is.

Thanks to all of you who left comments, posted on Facebook, pinned, tweeted, and otherwise spread the good news about the mandoline giveaway! I'm very excited to announce our winner: Linda! Linda said she'd enjoy her pita pizza with caramelized onions, gruyere, and ham. Yummy!

Congratulations Linda! Please contact bakeeatrepeat@gmail.com to claim your mandoline slicer!

Everyone had such amazing ideas for their pita pizzas. I'm definitely looking forward to giving some of them a try in the future.

Thanks again and stay tuned for more giveaways in the future!


Banana Bread with Dark Chocolate Swirl
Yield: 2 loaves (about 10 servings each)
Recipe by bakeeatrepeat.blogspot.com


Ingredients:
4 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup no sugar added applesauce
2 cups mashed bananas (5-6 whole bananas)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 ounces bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and lightly grease two 9 in loaf pans.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, applesauce, mashed bananas and vanilla. Add both sugars and whisk until thoroughly combined.

3. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add to the egg mixture and stir until flour is well combined. It's okay if the batter is still lumpy! Don't overbeat.

4. Divide mixture evenly between two baking pans.

5. In a small microwave safe dish or in a double boiler, melt chocolate. Drizzle chocolate evenly between two pans. Using a knife, swirl chocolate throughout the bread mixture. It doesn't require much, just a few quick turns of the knife.

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 60-70 minutes or until golden and set.