Chocolate walnut banana bread - moist, a little fudgy and yet still incredibly light! It seems like everyone is making banana bread during this time and it only felt right to join in. I already have a banana bread recipe on here, so wanted to try something new for you all. This recipe is truly incredible and since I made the first loaf, my family has been not so subtly hinting at me to make some more - once the bananas ripen!
The crumb on this cake is just incredible, fluffy, light and a little gooey all at the same time, with pockets of banana, dark chocolate and crunchy walnuts. It tastes truly indulgent and super rich, if you hadn't made it yourself, you wouldn't believe that it's actually much healthier than most cakes!
The great thing about banana bread is that it can take the use of wholemeal flour without you even noticing, particularly this double chocolate version. Wholegrains are packed with essential nutrients, including fibre, which we all need a little more of! I used extra virgin olive oil which is packed full of healthy fats and by using extra ripe bananas you only need a little added sugar, in the form of agave or even maple syrup. There's a hefty bit of cocoa in this recipe, as well as a little dark chocolate for that rich, indulgent flavour, which also contains essential minerals like iron and magnesium.
The full hour cooking time left a little gooeyness as well as a light, fluffy texture for me, but I've put a range on the cooking time as I know everyone's oven is different, as are preferences of gooey vs cakey with banana bread, so you can cook for a little less or the full time depending on your likings. I left the cake uncovered when I baked, as my parents' oven has pretty even heat distribution, but if your oven is a little hot from the top heating element, you may need to pop a little tin foil over the cake halfway through to stop it colouring too much. The hardest part about making this cake is waiting for it to cool fully before cutting, but it really is essential - when you bake there's steam trapped inside the cake, this needs time to settle and the cake to fully set before you cut into it for the best texture. If cut into whilst hot the texture is likely to be a little gummy and it will be really hard to cut a nice slice.
Chocolate Walnut Banana Bread | Serves: 8 | Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook time: 50-60 mins
You'll need
- 2lb loaf tin
- Large mixing bowl
- Small mixing bowl
- Potato masher
- Wooden spoon
- Chopping board
- Knife
- Cooling rack
Ingredients
- 3 large very ripe bananas (~140g each skin on)
- 1/3 cup agave, or maple syrup
- 1/3 cup olive oil (I used extra virgin)
- 1/3 cup soy milk
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/3 cups wholemeal flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
- 30g dark chocolate (I used 70%)
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
Method
- Pre-heat a fan oven to 180°C. Then grease your loaf tin with a little olive oil and add a heaped spoon of flour, tap the flour around the tin so it coats the surface, then discard of any excess in the small mixing bowl.
- In the large mixing bowl mash the bananas well, until few lumps remain, then stir in the agave syrup, olive oil, soy milk and vinegar.
- Into the small mixing bowl, measure out the flour (including any leftover from greasing the pan), the cocoa powder and walnuts. Chop the chocolate into chunks and add this along with the salt and baking soda and stir together.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet and gently stir together until just combined and no visible flour is remaining. You don't want to overmix as this will form gluten and the texture won't be as soft.
- Spoon the mixture into the greased and floured loaf tin and spread out in an even layer. Sprinkle with a little pinch of salt and bake for 50-60 minutes. Every oven is different, so baking time will vary, a skewer should come out mostly clean when put into the centre of the cake - but be aware of putting the skewer through pieces of banana or chocolate chunks as you may get a misread. If your cake starts to brown too much, you can pop a little foil over the top for the remainder of the cooking time.
- Once baked, let it cool slightly, then remove from the tin and transfer onto a cooling rack, let it cool for at least 2 hours before cutting into to ensure the cake is fully set inside, for the best texture. The cake may sink a little in the middle as it cools, but this is normal. Once cool, cut a slice and enjoy!
Cassidy xx
