I will admit that of all the foods in this world it has taken me years to get around to even putting a banana in my mouth. Something about the smell, the texture, the slimy sweetness, just wasn’t happening for my palate. I occasionally buy bananas at the market for Francisco who likes to eat them whole as fruit. A while back, when some were on the border of going funky (read: black), I decided to do turn them into banana bread. At that time, the woman who helped clean our house, Oti, watched me in fascination. “Señora Elizabeth, disculpa, la pones en la masa?” Sorry? You put them in the mixture? Yes! The experiment, low fat but not low sugar, went pretty well. Tasty, especially when toasted with natural peanut butter (or dulce de leche here). Banana could be palatable.
This morning I woke up with a terrible monthly craving for chocolate, preferably in the form of croissants. The bakery on the corner with the pain de chocolate didn’t open till 10am (it was 7am) and there was no way I could wait. Eating a chocolate bar that early too seemed out of the question. I took one look at some freckled bananas and was like, hmm, banana and dark chocolate could work. It did. In fact, it kicked butt. So this recipe was low fat until I put in 170g of chopped semisweet dark chocolate (still on the Scharffen Berger kick…this chocolate is mind blowing, how come I didn’t know about until this last trip to the Bay area?). The results were really great: moist cake, sweet but not overly, and the chocolate makes it feel sinfully yummy. It works for breakfast or tea time.
2 cups all purpose flour (I used whole wheat but with the chocolate, healthy kinda went out the window)
3/4 cup all natural (no sugar) applesauce
170g (about 1/2 cup) natural yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
5-6 bananas mashed (about 1.25 cups)
1 tsp baking powder**
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
170g (1 cup) dark chocolate (semi-sweet) chips or chopped
Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
1. Mix the dry ingredients together, sifting the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Reserve.
2. In another bowl, mash the bananas. Add the eggs, vanilla, applesauce, and yogurt.
3. Add the dry ingredients. Do not overbeat (to not create more gluey gluten); only until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. In a greased oblong bread pan, add mixture. Bake for one hour. If it is filled to the top, I suggest leaving about 1/2 inch space since it will rise. I forgot this morning had this “blob” cascading out the back which could have been made into muffins (however, it was still edible).
*In Chile, all baking powder needs to be doubled; it’s not double strength. Explains my flat cookies that have plagued me for years. A miracle. Clabber Girl imported from the States is at Jumbo for you expats…
