When we were kids, one of the cakes mum used to make was a chocolate marble cake, and I loved the way it looked. I don’t know why, but the idea for a similar concept with banana bread popped into my head randomly the other day when I noticed the over ripe banana stash in my freezer was getting a little out of control (does this happen to anyone else when the weather gets warmer?!). So I gave another banana bread recipe a make over and created this chocolate chia banana bread. It’s very tasty for a bit of a healthier sweet treat.
It’s quite dense and chocolatey, and super delicious when you bite into a lovely chunk of dark chocolate amongst the bananary goodness. Store in the fridge. This freezes well too.
Here’s the recipe:
Chocolate Chia Banana Bread
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups wholegrain oats
1 cup flour (Gluten free, plain, wholemeal, spelt – your choice)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 cup coconut
100g dark chocolate, chopped into chunks.
1/2 cup coconut oil (or butter)
1/4 cup stevia or sugar
1 tablespoon honey
3 large ripe bananas, blended
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 to 1/3 cup milk
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a loaf tin with non stick baking paper
- Mix the cocoa,oats, flour, baking powder, chia seeds, stevia/sugar, coconut and half of the chocolate in a bowl and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil and honey together, stirring well.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the coconut oil/honey mixture, the banana, eggs, milk.
- Gently fold together until just combined. Add a little extra milk if required.
- Place half of the mixture in a smaller bowl and stir in the cocoa.
- Tip the cocoa mixture back into the rest of the banana bread mixture and loosely fold through to create a marbled effect.
- Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for around 45 minutes or until cooked. An easy way to check is to insert a skewer in the middle. It will come out clean once cooked.
- Tip the loaf out onto a rack to cool. While still warm, sprinkle the rest of the chocolate over the top, and as it starts to melt, spread over the loaf.
- Garnish with a little coconut.
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