I like your standard, plain banana bread as much as the next person—which is to say, I could take it or leave it. What really floats my boat is banana bread with chocolate chips. There’s just something about banana and chocolate together—it’s one of those classic combinations. I almost feel guilty that I’ve been making this crazy good marbled chocolate banana bread for several years and have never shared it with you. Whenever I bake a loaf, its beauty is immediately destroyed as soon as it exits the oven because it’s almost impossible to resist a warm, fresh slice. It never lasts long enough for photos. But I made a point of preserving this loaf at least until it was fully cooled and photographed so I could finally, at long last, post the recipe.
What we have here is a pretty standard banana bread recipe. It’s lightened up with nonfat greek yogurt, and an egg plus some liquid egg whites. I’ve also used white whole wheat flour, which is camouflaged really well here. In banana bread, I find the mild nuttiness the whole wheat adds is welcome. To make the chocolate portion, you simply melt semisweet chocolate chips and mix them with a portion of the batter. Swirl the regular and chocolate batters together and bake. Just over an hour later, you’ll have a beautiful loaf of banana-and-chocolate deliciousness. For its incredibly moist crumb, perfectly crunchy crust, and rich chocolate swirl, this banana bread gets top honors from me.
Marbled Banana Bread
Adapted from Cooking Light
Makes 1 9×5″ loaf, 16 slices
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup butter, softened
- 1½ cups mashed ripe banana (about 3-4 bananas)
- 1 egg + ¼ cup liquid egg whites*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup plain nonfat greek yogurt
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
- Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add banana, egg and egg whites, vanilla, and yogurt; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist.
- Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until almost melted, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 cup batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined. Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter into an 9×5″ loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Swirl batters together using a knife. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Store in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to a week.
*Note: Alternately, you can use 2 eggs or ½ cup egg substitute.
