This Bread is B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Hazelnut-Chocolate Banana Bread

There was a little speech. After a disastrous take on Stephanie O’Dea’s five-layer crock pot brownies that nearly made me retire my apron and my slow cooker, I rallied to try something new.

Don't ask.

My family stood there, waiting to see the baked goodies under the cake pan cover. The tension was mounting, and I could see they were in no mood for longwinded explanations of how I had almost packed it in. They smelled banana bread, and I was about to get shoved to the floor if I didn’t hurry things along.

So I did it anyway, pontificated about the joys of baking and how important it is to pick yourself up and try, try again. These were impressionable young minds, completely ignoring everything I said the moment it came out of my mouth. It was as if in one of those cartoons where you can literally see images of food in people’s pupils.

The wait was worth it, they said, even the boring talk. They got to dig into hazelnut chocolate banana bread, and they didn’t care one ounce that it was technically a light recipe. It was decadent, in all the right ways.

There something about slowly rotting bananas that inspires me to bake. The hardest part is narrowing it down to which recipe to transform the bananas into. For my son’s first birthday earlier in October, I made the Best Banana Cake Ever recipe from Food.com (http://dessert.food.com/recipe/best-ever-banana-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting-67256), and I can testify that it was absolutely the best banana cake ever.

I often make a scrumptious chocolate-banana bread that is also a Cooking Light recipe from a few years back. But when I started browsing through the new issue of Cooking Light and saw this little rascal, I had to go for it, even though I don’t care for Nutella much. The kids do.

Here’s the recipe:

Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Bread

5 tbsp chocolate hazelnut spread (I used Jif’s new one instead of Nutella)

3 tbsp plus 1 tbsp canola oil, divided

3 tbsp butter, softened

½ cup packed brown sugar

2 medium ripe bananas, sliced

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

¾ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2/3 cup buttermilk (I used low-fat)

baking spray with flour (I used Pam)

¼ cup hazelnuts, chopped

1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

To get things going, I put on some Gwen Stefani. Nothing like a little “Hollaback Girl” to get you moving in the kitchen.

Did you know that song was written in response to Courtney Love calling Stefani a “cheerleader” in an interview with Seventeen magazine? Now you do. In Love’s defense, Stefani did dress in a cheerleader uniform during early concerts, one of which I saw at Cal State Fullerton.

Hot. 

So anyway, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine chocolate-hazelnut spread and 1 tsp. oil in a small microwave-safe dish. Heat for 30 seconds at a time. Stir until melted. 

Combine 3 tbsp. of oil, butter, brown sugar and bananas in a large bowl. I do this directly in the bowl of my stand-mixer. Mix on medium-high speed until well blended.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each is added.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. I always do this in a separate bowl and whisk. It’s important to mix the dry ingredients first in a separate bowl because it prevents clumping.

While the mixer is on low speed, alternately add some of the dry ingredients, then the buttermilk, then the dry, then the buttermilk, you get the picture… until you end with the dry ingredients.

Spray the 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with the nonstick spray. Pour half the mixture into the pan. Spread the hazelnut chocolate melty goodness over it. Then pour the rest of the mix on top.

Use a wooden skewer stick and swirl the batter. This is easier than it sounds. Do not overswirl. Just go back and forth a couple of times. Sprinkle the top with the hazelnuts.

Not yet!

Put it in the oven and wait patiently for about 55 minutes. It’s done when you insert another wooden skewer stick and it comes out clean. Put on a baking rack while the loaf is still in the pan and wait for 10 or 12 minutes.  

Use baking mitts and flip it over to get it out, then flip it again to put it on the baking rack where it will mock you as it cools. Do not put the glaze on it until the bread is completely cool, like Gwen Stefani cool.

Melt the bittersweet chocolate in a microwave-safe dish for 30 seconds on high. Drizzle onto the bread. Let stand to set. E-A-T. 

OK. Now.