This week’s TWD was chosen by Steph at Obsessed with Baking: cocoa-nana bread! This one caused quite a stir over on the P&Q’s at the TWD site (apparently people don’t like bananas and chocolate together) and there were a number of unfavorable reviews being shared on Twitter as well. The recipe was quick to whip up, though, and I had all the ingredients on hand, so it was an easy decision to give it a try.
The recipe calls for baking this bread in a loaf pan, but for two main reasons I didn’t go in that direction. First, quick breads take a long time to bake – this one was between 70 and 75 minutes – and I’m impatient. Also, I really wanted to halve the recipe and didn’t want to make mini loafs. Instead, I made muffins, which would be really easy to share with my neighbor. A half recipe yielded 10 muffins and mine baked in about 20 minutes. I wish Dorie had provided a more specific measurement for the bananas (the recipe calls for “2 ripe bananas”) because I think they’re important to the moistness of the end result. My bananas were on the small side, so even though I halved the recipe I still used 2 bananas.
I was expecting the worst, but I actually liked these muffins! They had a lot of chocolate flavor, especially with the addition of the chocolate chips, while the banana flavor was quite subtle. The crumb was tight and the muffins were dense, but not dry. I probably won’t be rushing to make these again but they do make for an occasional treat and anything that helps you justify eating chocolate for breakfast is ok in my book!
Thanks to Steph for hosting this week’s selection! You can find the recipe on her blog and if you’d like to check out the other posts this week, you can visit the TWD blogroll.
Lemon Bars
Glazed Grapefruit Cake
Orange Sherbet
Meyer Lemon Pound Cake
Ciao !! You are right it took sooo long to bake ! But I loved it too !
your muffins look greate! i’m planning to try them too but…. could you tell me how many grams a stick butter has? and you are allways measuring the ingredients with a cup…but how big is your cup? (i think that a regular cup has 250g?)
In Holland the reacipies are always in grams en not in cups 😀
oh these look so chocolatey. wish I could grab one :)have to try these
Looks moist and delicious. I would love that with a cup of hot tea…mmm
Guys here liked this recipe, too. They thought it was just the right amount of banana for just the right amount of chocolate, whatever that means. Maybe you have to be a guy to know. Or someone who likes chocolate and banana. Either way, I think your idea of the muffins lends itself to a whole new direction for me on this recipe b/c muffins are the ultimate portable breakfast around here…yep, so using that idea of yours. They look wonderful.
chocolate & banana – blissful eating
Your muffins look great, Tracey! I probably won’t get mine posted til tonight, but they seemed to go over well as cupcakes, too. =)
These look good… I like chocolate and banana together (which is strange, because I don’t really love bananas all that much). I often make banana chocolate chip muffins, but next time maybe I’ll give this recipe a try. Good call on halving the recipe and making muffins, too!
ooooh, muffins! You’re a genius! they look great and I am glad you enjoyed them! I happened to really those this one!!
Love the muffins. Glad you enjoyed them!
Your muffins look adorable, not little brown blobs at all! I’m glad you liked these!
I also made muffins and was glad I did! I am wishing I would have put two bananas in the halved recipe but my muffins still turned out alright. Your muffins look fantastic!
Scrumptious muffins! I love the combo of chocolate and banana!
They look so cute – and you really can talk yourself into believing they make a healthy breakfast. Nice job!
I love your little muffins! I tasted a little bite of this and thought it was good too. Surprising how much of a debate there was going on about the chocolate and banana combination!
I love the fruit and chocolate combination, so these sound great to me. I would make muffins, too, because they are much easier for the kids to grab and go!! Peace, Stephanie
I love the muffins. I think, if I make this again, and I would, muffins would work better than bread. We like the small versions.
Glad these worked for you. I know some liked, some didn’t. Your little muffins look perfect.
I tried them twice, but….
Maybe if I had made muffins rather than a loaf pan I might have liked them more. Yours looks great.
Your muffins look great! I wish I had made muffinso. I plan on hiding the loaf until tomorrow for breakfast. A muffin would have been easier to grab and go!
Thanks!
Love your idea of making them into muffins and sharing them with your neighbor. That’s one lucky neighbor!
They look very good! I made the bread and added some extra calories.
I really liked these too, and I so wish I thought to add chocolate chips! I really thought the banana was pretty subtle. Your muffins look great, and if I make this again, I’m going the muffin route!
Tracey, they are GORGEOUS! Your photos are so beautiful! I made these into brownies and loved them, so I’m with you on liking them! Great job!
Cute little muffins! Good call to make them in muffin form: I had leftover batter so baked it in two ramekins, those were done in a flash and the big loaf took forever.
I definitely wished there was more banana flavor and more for moistening the muffins, they were a bit dry.
How can you go wrong with this. Delicious!
Your muffins turned out so cute. Love the picture with the white plate against the dark chocolate color and the beige tile floor. Gorg!
Great looking muffins Tracey! I also had 2 banana, and not quite 1 1/2 cups, but eh… who cared? I loved the chocolate flavor more. Glad your neighbors were able to sample some – they look absolutely wonderful!
I’m glad that you and your neighbor enjoyed these muffins! I think that the muffin form was the way to go with this recipe.
They are soooo shinny! WOW! Makes them look moist and plump! If perfection had a muffin… bravo, Tracey!
Thanks for baking along with me! Your muffins are really cute.
These look delicious Tracey. I prefer muffins over a loaf sometimes as it helps with portion control. Unless its a really, really, good loaf…then you can eat half in one sitting. hehe
Your little muffins look great! I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe as well. I agree these were a nice way to add chocolate to breakfast 🙂
Muffins are a great idea!! My loaf took over 80 minutes! I’m with you on this recipe too – I probably wouldn’t rush into making it again, but I’m glad I did try it. Your muffins look beautiful!
-Amy
http://www.singforyoursupperblog.com
Your muffins look so cute. But those croissants – wow!
You baked the cocoa-nana recipe in muffins; love them! I tossed mine in the freezer too. So many goodies lately and I had this great idea at the beginning of the year to cut down on sweets in the house; silly me.
I am with you about freezing and taking out a couple at a time. Well, your muffins turned out beautiful!
Muffins were a great idea! I made the whole loaf but pawned it off on my coworkers. I love how you put such a positive spin on everything!
If I have unsweetened cocoa powder (recipe calls for semisweet powder), should I increase the amount of sugar in the recipe? Thanks!
Tracey, thanks so much for the quick reply and for double checking the recipe for me! I’m going to make the muffins and halve the recipe as you had done. I’ll probably be more liberal with the bananas for a more moist and flavorful muffin. Hope it turns out looking as great as yours! And thanks for stopping by my blog. =)