Banana Chocolate Swirl Bread

Bananas are probably the most consumed fruit in my household. Even my picky 5 year old eats banana without too much complaining. All the other fruits have to be converted into juices & smoothies for him. But the problem with bananas, that too buying in bulk, is the whole bunch ripens at the same time and all of them go from bright yellow to speckled and then over-ripe in matter of 2 days, especially in the hot weather. Which is why I'm always looking for recipes to use my excess bananas and I have posted quite a few different recipes from smoothies to breads to brownies with bananas.

 

When I saw Chef Mireille's announcement for 'Taste of the Tropics - Banana', I knew this is the time to publish my banana recipes that have been in my drafts for quite some time now.

First up is a Banana-Chocolate two tone swirl bread. I made it for my Mother's day brunch party, so this has been in the more for over 2 months now :-) This is a very moist and delicious bread that is perfect for breakfast or a quick pick me up snack.  

Recipe from here:
Ingredients:
All purpose Flour - 1cup (Use 2 cups All-purpose flour if not using wholewheat pastry flour)
Wholewheat Pastry flour - 1cup
Baking Powder - 1½tsp
Baking Soda - ½tsp
Salt - ¼tsp
Ground Nutmeg - ¼tsp
Ground Cinnamon - 1/8tsp
Lemon zest - 1tsp, finely chopped
Eggs - 2 large, beaten
Ripe Bananas - 1½cups (about 4-5 medium)
Sugar - 1cup
Butter - ½cup, melted
Milk - 1tbsp
Semisweet chocolate - ¼cup, melted and cooled

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9"x5" loaf pan and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine flour (s), baking powder, lemon zest, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine eggs, mashed bananas, sugar, melted butter and milk. 
• Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. 
• Pour 1/3 of the mixture to a small bowl and fold in the melted chocolate.
• Drop alternating spoonfuls of plain and chocolate batters into the prepared pan. Using a table knife or a metal spatula, swirl around the batters to marble.
• Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.If the top seems to be browning too quickly, then cover the pan loosely with a foil tent.
• Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove it onto a wire rack.