Tuesday, January 26, 2010

TWD: Cocoa-Nana Bread

loafcocoanana

I had a feeling that when I picked the cocoa-nana bread that there would be some debate about the whole banana and chocolate combination. While most people love banana bread with chocolate chips, chocolate banana bread seems to be another story. There were a few substitutions that were mentioned, including apple sauce, pumpkin, pears, sweet potato so it might be an interesting week for variations. For those who were afraid of the whole chocolate-banana combination, I'd still give it a try because you never know! I was a little undecided when I first tasted this bread, but it really grew on me afterwards. The best part was the dense yet tender texture. I only wish the recipe gave the banana amount in cups because the variation in fruit size will affect the flavour and moisture of the final product. My bananas measured out to 1 cup and the bread tasted like Dorie describes, chocolate-chocolate and then you get hit with the banana.

loafcocoanana (3)

Thanks to everyone who baked along with me! I hope I didn't ruin too many people's experiences with banana and chocolate.... the P&Q freaked me out a little.

Cocoa-nana Bread
Dorie Greenspan

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter at room temp
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 1/2 cup store-bought chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and place it on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked on top of the other. (This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from over baking.)

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed for about a minute, until softened. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes more. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. At this point, the batter may look a little curdled -- it's okay. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the mashed bananas. Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. Still on low speed, add the buttermilk, mixing until it is incorporated. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Scrape the batter into the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Cover the bread loosely with a foil tent to keep the top from getting too dark, and continue to bake for another 40 to 45 minutes (total baking time is between 70 to 75 minutes) or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for at least 20 minutes before running a knife around the edges of the bread and unmolding. Invert and cool to room temp right side up.

75 comments:

  1. I'm already dreading the P&Q for whatever I pick in a couple of months! At least you didn't choose anything "eggy" - that's the biggest controversy! Along with the dreaded raisins!! This was a lovely pick, and while I wasn't blown away by the combination, I definitely approached it with an open mind. I'm thinking a bit more banana might have been better for my bread.

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  2. This was an interesting recipe, wasn't it? I love your loaf; beautiful~! Thank you for picking this week's recipe and now I am curious how everyone else looked at this and/or altered it =)

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  3. Thanks for hosting this week Steph! I made the recipe into muffins and actually enjoyed them. Plus, it's a good excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast, so how can you complain about that?? You loaf looks gorgeous!!

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  4. Steph, as I already stated before I loooooved this one!! Even if I only got to eat the tiniest bit ever! However I am now convinced that you should change the name of your blog to 'Obsessed with Baking Banana Bread': you are the Queen of Banana Bread!

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  5. Thanks for hosting this week and picking a easy recipe to follow! I added Reeses peanut butter cups to mine and spread some peanut butter glasze over the top!
    Your bread looks so good!

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  6. Ciao !! Thanks for choosing a recipe that was a total hit for us !! I might bake another loaf today !! Or as Marthe suggests check all your bananas breads !

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  7. MMM, dessert as breakfast, just add a healthy slick of chocolate ganache and you've got yourself a 'balanced' meal. hehe. :)

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  8. Steph, I couldn't agree more about the banana measurement issue. I wondered about it myself. But it all ended well. These were so moist. Love your pictures. Loaf looks perfect.

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  9. Oh, the P&Q. We are a passionate group of bakers. I'm so glad.
    Thanks for choosing a recipe that got us all fired up!

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  10. Thank you for hosting this week! I just like that you picked a nice and simple recipe, and it's a little different from the norm. I don't like bananas (sorry!) so I didn't try this, but my boyfriend really enjoyed it and thanks you for your pick!

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  11. Thanks for hosting this week! Great pick!! And don't let the people in the P&Qs bother you... you can't please everyone!

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  12. This was a winner in our house! Thanks for picking an easy, pantry-friendly recipe!

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  13. I thought this was incredible!! Thanks for such a great pick!! Yours look phenomenal!

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  14. It was all good, Steph! We actually loved it. I figured out from reading a few posts that I should have pureed my bananas rather than mashing them with a fork. This will make frequent appearances in my baking rotation.

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  15. I like chocolate and banana! Although I wanted a little more banana in this one. Thanks for hosting!

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  16. I had no issues with the marriage of these two flavours in a bread. It turned out perfectly despite some errors on my part. :) Thank you for selecting this great recipe!

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  17. It's so easy to get defensive about our choice, isn't it? We want everyone to like it! And hey, could be worse, I picked a very eggy custard, which, as Nancy said, is as bad as it gets. :)

    This was the perfect choice for me, because not only did I like the muffins, but I'd already made and photographed them, so it was like a free week!

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  18. Thanks, Steph, it was a big hit here, gone within a day or two and was easy to make, so am sure I will make it again sometime. Tracey made hers into muffins and I am thinking the guys would really like the portability of that, so going there with this recipe next. Your bread looks beautiful! Great pick.

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  19. I have to admit, I was really surprised by so many people having problems with the banana/chocolate combination. It was a definite winner for everyone who tried it here.
    Great pick!
    Yours looks lovely!

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  20. I can't believe there was any debate to begin with!! Chocolate + banana is awesome. And even awesomer is to move out of your comfort zone ;) Looks perfect and moist, and of course I love the top :)

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  21. It looks great, Steph! Thanks for a great choice - we really enjoyed this!!

    -Amy
    www.singforyoursupperblog.com

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  22. Hi. I make a lot of banana-chocolate chip muffins, but have never thought of this combo. It sounds great to me, and yours looks delicious.
    Peace, Stephanie

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  23. Loved this recipe, thanks for a great pick. It is delish!

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  24. Thanks fot the pick! While I didn't love the bread, my husband did and I just love baking new things!

    Meg

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  25. My loaf is in the oven right now. I can't wait to taste it!!!

    ~Gracie

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  26. Thanks for hosting this week. It was definately a tasty choice!

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  27. I think it was a fabulous choice! The whole point of joining TWD is to bake outside of our boxes, right? And in doing so, we discover new and tempting treats we might never have known otherwise. Like this one! I might have skipped it without TWD, and I really enjoyed it! Nice job, my friend.

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  28. Thanks for hosting this week. I like chocolate and banana, but I would like have liked more banana in this one.
    Mimi

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  29. hi.Your banana bread looks greate and i would like too try it too but i have soms difficulties with ingredients measuring.
    cold you tell me how manny grams your butter stick has?( in the nederlads it has 250 g) And..what kind of cup do you use to measure the ingredinents? (a 250 g?)
    Thank u!

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  30. Thanks for hosting and picking this. Mine has no banana taste that I can perceive but oh that chocolate. I liked this choice.

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  31. Thanks for the pick! I really enjoyed the chocolate taste with a slight banana after taste!

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  32. Sorry that the P&Q scared you! The bread looks good though, and I've seen positive reviews all over. No need to worry! :)

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  33. Thanks for hosting this week! I really enjoyed baking the bread - chocolate and bananas, yum! :)

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  34. Oh I'm so not scared of that. I could prove it if you'd send me some. ;)

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  35. Such pretty pictures! Great job. I was a bit surprised to hear that some are afraid of the chocolate/banana combo tho. This bread had a very mild banana aroma and taste. I think it's a winning combo!

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  36. Thanks for choosing such an interesting recipe. I almost didn't try this one, but, resisted my aversion to baked banana goods and tried it. Still feel the same, but my hubby thanks you. :)

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  37. phooey to all the p&qers who wouldn't give this a shot-- it was great! thanks for the pick!!

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  38. This was a great pick - I enjoyed it a lot!

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  39. Hahaha I know how you feel when you say you were scared by the P&Q... I thought I was going to be run out of TWD after my choice! But I LOVED this choice... I made them into brownies and I really enjoyed the combination of chocolate and banana, so thank you for this one! It was fun and it was different and I loved it!

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  40. Hey Steph, Although I haven't yet made the choco-nana bread, duh it has chocolate. How can you argue with that? I read all the comments on the P&Q also last night. I always get a kick out of what people offer up. Kind of funny and interesting. I always remind myself not to take it too seriously. Its baking. Its supposed to be fun and yummy. Thanks for your pick this week. It sounds yummy to me. Looking forward to it.
    AmyRuth

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  41. I've been drooling over this bread all day! I look so moist and delicious!

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  42. I LOVED this bread! Thanks for the pick. I added cardamom which worked really well with the banana and chocolate. The nice dark bitter flavor of the chocolate with a hint of banana is perfect. Your bread looks beautiful and looking at it makes me want to go make another loaf. Thanks!

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  43. Thanks for the pick! I love the chocolate and banana combo I think your bread turned out really nice! This is my first TWD bake; I probably shouldn't have made the slit on my loaf before putting it in the oven. Nonetheless, I love the flavor and would definitely go for another chocolate-banana combo again. I enjoyed baking along. Thanks!

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  44. Thanks for the pick this week! I love banana & chocolate! I had no idea there were so many who thought it a little odd. What about banana splits?!

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  45. Choc & nana together....Perfection.

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  46. Great pick! I have always loved chocolate and bananas and I really enjoyed the bread! :)

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  47. This was a nice pick, and I'm sorry that I didn't make it. I think bananas and chocolate are good together. I was surprised at all the controversy!

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  48. LOL, you're so funny...the P&Q freaked you out?! I'm proud of you for making the recipe without any changes.
    ~ingrid

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  49. Steph, I think you made a great choice. I had no idea so many folks were wary of the chocolate-banana combo...I think they go together perfectly. The remainder of my loaf is going to work with my husband tomorrow...it's too dangerous to leave in the house!

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  50. VERY nice pick this week - it's so interesting to have your recipe "talked" about and debated! Banana and chocolate??? I loved it - some.... eh. That's the beauty of it! Your loaf looks absolutely wonderful - thanks again for choosing this recipe!

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  51. Thanks for hosting this week, it was a great choice for January. Your bread looks amazing. I think this one got better after resting a day or so. This one was definitely worth trying.

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  52. Steph thank u for the site and information.

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  53. Congratulations on getting to pick! Must be a lot of pressure, but to me it looks like you went for a winner! Delicious.

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  54. Thank you so much Steph for picking that wonderful recipe this week. Thank you also for visiting me and thanking me for my participation... to me, this is the mark of a great baker and a faithfull blogger. I see you had great success with a beautiful deep rust colour loaf... amazing.

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  55. Thanks for hosting this week! I made the recipe into cupcakes and we loved them. Your bread looks
    perfect!

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  56. Beautiful photos! I bet it tasted amazing

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  57. Thanks for the comment on my blog. I'm with you, it seems like mixing in the butter afterwards would contribute to overmixing. I'm don't really know if I want to test it out!

    This looks so delicious! I made the marbled banana bread from Baking with Dorie and liked it, but this sounds easier. I love that you made werewolf cupcakes! I'm not really into Twilight, though i like making themed foods for movies and events

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  58. Nice crumb! Looks very moist too. Great job!! I love chocolate and banana together. Discovered this by accident when I was playing around and subbed cocoa powder for part of the flour in my favorite banana bars :o)

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  59. I buy the dark cocoa at the bulk store. We go through quite a lot. I often drive up to this really big bulk store:
    http://www.johnvince.com/

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  60. Thanks for the recipe! It wasn't a favorite, but I'm glad to have tried it.

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  61. I wish mine looked 1/2 as good as yours. It was an intersting pick. Not a fav, but, like you said, outside my box. Mine was better the second time around.

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  62. I loved your pick! I think chocolate and bananas go really well together and I don't usually like fruit with my chocolate! Sorry the P&Qs freaked you out, but I think this turned out really delicious!
    Your bread looks gorgeous! =) I totally agree with you on preferring an actual amount of banana to use instead of how many bananas to use. I picked the 2 largest bananas because I don't think you can have too much banana. Maybe that helped because I thought this bread was really moist and fudgy!

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  63. What a lovely hostess you make :) I personally LOVE the banana-chocolate combo and I'm glad you chose this, everyone who tasted it LOVED it! Thanks again!!

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  64. I've been buried in book work so I'm a week late getting over to see your terrific looking cake. Being swamped with work also means I missed the P&Q. I always find it so interesting to learn what people are thinking about combinations and I'm (belately) surprised to learn that there was controversy about chocolate and banana. I'll keep that in mind, but I'm delighted that in the end you liked your pick.

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  65. Steph, I think this was an AWESOME pick!! If you only want to make things you already know you like, why join a baking group? That's my philosophy and I'm sticking to it! This was fun to make, and a really interesting combination. My tasters all enjoyed it. Yours looks fabulous. Great pick!

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  66. I absolutely love this recipe! Of course I ate chocolate pudding with bananas in it while pregnant with my first child 20+ years ago. So this was a perfect recipe for me. I baked mine in a bundt pan. Thanks for choosing it. =)

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  67. I'm baking mine now.. and i must say the smell is awfully GOOD! thanks for choosing this recipe and hosting!

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  68. I just started following your blog but just wanted to say your recipes look fabulous and I will definitely try the cocoa-nana bread! I started my own blog about whole grain baking, www.littlebakervalerie.blogspot.com. Thanks for your blog and inspirations!

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  69. I made a chocolate banana cake years ago that smelled so good when I took it out of the oven that I nearly ate it all before serving it. This gets a big thumbs up from me!

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  70. Wow the bread looks SOOO good! Definitely saving the recipe.

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  71. I really love the chocolate banana flavor combo, but surprisingly have never made a banana/choco loaf!!

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  72. I prefer having the banana amount in cups too. Looks like your bread turned out perfectly! I loved how tender it was but I prefer banana bread with chocolate chips (actually I prefer it with walnuts and no chocolate!)

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  73. Hi there, I ran across your post because I made this tonight using the recipe from the book, and my friend asked me for the recipe. I went online to see if someone had already transcribed it, saw you had, but then noticed that you made a small error in transcribing it. I double checked -- my book shows that the cocoa powder should be 'unsweetened' not 'semi-sweet'. Doesn't seem that that made a big difference in your or anyone else's results, but I thought I should mention in case it does make a difference for some people. Nice job btw!

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