So it’s the tale of the old bananas again. This time I had five staring at me from atop my refrigerator. I’ve made countless banana bread recipes, including this one from my blog, but honestly I wanted something different. This recipe, which is more like a “cake” and somewhat healthy (as it leaves out the oil and incorporates applesauce) fits the bill. The chocolate chips add a nice chocolatey bite (on top of the cocoa powder) and the bananas and applesauce create a really lovely, moist breakfast-style cake. It’s a simple recipe to pull together – I whipped this up last night after work to bring as a morning snack for my co-workers. It’s being devoured as I type!
Ingredients:
- 3 medium bananas
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash bananas in a large mixing bowl. Add in the brown sugar and using a handheld or standup mixer, blend the sugar and banana together until well incorporated.
Add in the applesauce, vanilla and egg to the banana/sugar mixture and mix.
In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Stir dry ingredients with a large spoon and slowly transfer dry mixture to wet mixing periodically as you go.
Fold in the chocolate chips – you could add nuts here too if you’re a fan! Pour the batter into an 8 x 8 greased baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 – 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool on rack. I added some powdered sugar to the top right before serving. Yum!
See, I told you it was easy! And a great way to use up old bananas. I love that this recipe incorporates three. Now I just gotta figure out what to do with those other two! Hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing-filled Memorial Day weekend!
Cheers.
KristinKooks 