CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA BREAD

Last weekend it was my husband’s birthday. And in my opinion, nothing says I love you more than making someone his/her favorite dessert. So for my husband, that meant chocolate chip banana bread.

Being a dietitian, I often get asked if I eat dessert. To which I say: I don’t want to know what life would be like without dessert! Indulging is a necessity if long term weight loss, mental health, and overall wellness is the goal. But it is how we indulge that matters. In fact, that is something I will be writing about in my next piece, so stay tuned.

For now though, I give you this: a wholesomely decadent chocolate chip banana bread recipe. Enjoy….responsibly! ;)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups rolled oats or oat flour

• 1 tsp baking soda

• ¾ tsp baking powder

• ¾ tsp salt

• ½ tsp cinnamon

• 3 ripe bananas

• ½ cup full fat Greek yogurt

• ⅓ cup olive oil

• ½ cup maple syrup

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• ½ cup dark chocolate, plus more for the top (I used Hu Kitchen’s Hazelnut Butter Dark Chocolate)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. If using rolled oats, in a blender, blend oats till they turn into oat flour. (If using oat flour, you can obviously skip this step!)

3. Mix oat flour with baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, and cinnamon.

4. In a separate bowl, mash up the bananas.

5. Add the yogurt, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla to the bananas and mix.

6. Pour a third of the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix. When combined, add in another third and mix. When combined, add in the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until dry and wet ingredients are fully combined.

7. If using a bar of chocolate, chop it up and fold it into the batter. If using chocolate chips simply fold them into the batter.

8. Pour batter into a greased 9x11 loaf pan. Top with extra chocolate and bake for 30 minutes. When 30 minutes has passed, turn off the oven and keep the cake inside for another 10 minutes with the door closed. When the 10 minutes are up, the edges should be slightly brown, but golden.

9. Take the cake out and let it cool on a cooling rack before removing it from the loaf pan.