Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

Submitted by Sharlene~W

"For a light, tender crumb, be careful not to overmix the batter after adding the flour. Once all of the ingredients are mixed together, put in oven right away. If it sits for too long, the soda will start to lose its leavening power--so work quickly when melting chocolate. Discovered this delight in Cooking Light (low-fat version)."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 30mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Yields: 1 loaf
• Serves: 16

ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1⁄4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1⁄2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
• 2 eggs or 1/2 cup egg substitute
• 1⁄3 cup sour cream or 1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1⁄2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• cooking spray

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt, stirring with a whisk.
3. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl and beat with mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute).
4. Add banana, egg substitute, and yogurt; beat until blended.
5. Add flour mixture, beat at low speed just until moist.
6. Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl and microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until almost melted, stirring until smooth.
7. Cool slightly.
8. Add 1 cup of batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined.
9. Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.
10. Swirl batters together using a knife.
11. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
12. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan.
13. Cool completely on wire rack.

Reviews

[kim myles]

This is the recipe from Cooking Lights Sept 2003 magazine. Without a doubt the best low fat banana bread I have ever made. I changed two things - I add 2 full cups of mashed banana and 1/2 cup sour cream. The result is an incredibly moist, delicious choc./banana treat. Every where I take this I am handing the recipe out!!

 

[Jonathan Melendez]

This just might be my new favorite banana bread! It's a nice change from classic banana bread, which I was beginning to get bored of. This one has the perfect amount of chocolate and so I'll be adding it to my rotation!

 

[Japanese Delight]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........yum! My marbling skills could use help, but that didn't make it taste any less delicious!!! I used 1/2 cup sugar(which was PLENTY given the sweet bananas & chocolate!), and half whole wheat flour. I also used canola oil because it's healthier than butter. I just used a whisk to mix everything up. Thanks for posting this!

 

[Greeny4444]

Wonderful! I doubled the recipe and made a few substitutions, because I didn't have exactly everything. I used 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour and the rest all-purpose flour, I did 1/2 splenda, 1/2 sugar (using a total of 1 1/2 cups for the doubled recipe), I used 6 oz fat-free vanilla yogurt, 6 Tablespoons butter, and 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil. I had 6 small-ish super ripe bananas that were frozen and defrosted and, once mashed, they measured 2 cups, but it is still banana-y, so I think if you're a *little* short on banana, it's ok. ;) I got 2 8x4 loaves (done in 1 hour) and three mini heart-shaped loaves (1/2 cup capacity tins, done in 23 minutes-one was already gone by the time I took my picture!). I think next time I will double the recipe and bake in two 9x5 pans. This is the first time I have made marbled anything or put chocolate in my banana bread. I know...weird, right? Anyway, thanks for this awesome recipe! :)

 

[LUVMY2BOYS]

I can't tell you how much FUN I had making this recipe! I have 2 other banana bread recipes that are my "norm" but it was great to try a Cooking Light recipe to change things up (I normally enjoy their bread recipes). My husband tried a slice & said it tasted like banana choc chip bread (only with a "swirl!"). I used 1/4 cup Splenda & 1/4 cup sugar instead of the full cup. Thankfully that worked fine! I will hopefully try a slice myself soon; I just needed my "taste tester" to help me out! I DID think a 9X5 pan would work better than an 8X4--there is quite a lot of batter. Baking time was a little less than stated; the loaf was plenty brown. Thank you for sharing!!!