Some people think that the combination of chocolate and banana is anything but a harmonious marriage of flavors. Me, on the other hand, I completely disagree.
Chocolate and banana can be just as much a match made in heaven as peanut butter and jelly, given the right recipe. And this one was a good one! The chocolate flavor was really pronounced and the banana flavor was a welcomed afterthought. The texture and tight crumb was more reminiscent of a moist cake than a bread, but you won’t hear any complaints from me.
Unlike Dorie, I don’t need to have chocolate be socially accepted as a breakfast food. I accept it, as do all of my taste-testers 😉
I followed the recipe only changing one thing: I subbed 1/4 cup of the cocoa powder for King Arthur Flour’s Black Cocoa. The black cocoa adds an entirely different depth of flavor to your chocolate goods and gives it a deep, dark, delicious chocolate color. OH and I baked it in a bundt pan instead of a loaf pan.
If you are finicky about banana in your chocolate, I bet that you could swap unsweetened applesauce or any mashed fruit, shredded zucchini, greek yogurt or sour cream for the bananas.
The only things I would do differently next time is to REMEBER TO DUST IT WITH POWDERED SUGAR (I always seem to forget, dangit.) And… mash the bananas right before they have to go into the batter. Have you ever looked at mashed bananas that have been sitting out on the counter for 15 minutes? Ick.
A big thank you to Steph, my fellow Twi-Hard, of Obsessed With Baking for choosing this recipe! Head on over to her beautiful and rather helpful blog for the recipe and be sure to check out the other bakers’ reviews of this recipe.
The Whimsical Cupcake 
Great looking bread..so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Im still trying to decide if I really like it or not!? It’s good just not a fav. of mine. It sure looks pretty though!
Mine were dark too. Need to try the King Arthur stuff. Just used the special dark Hersheys. Your bread looks incredibly moist. Very nice.
Ooooh, so dark and chocolately! Sometimes I use the Hershey’s special cocoa and get a similar effect. Glad this one was a hit for you. I made muffins and thought they were good, but definitely not one of my favorite Dorie recipes.
Wow – these look wonderfully dark and chocolatey! I love using dutch processed cocoa – it’s so dark and decadent! Haven’t tried KA’s yet though… hm. Nicely done!
You bread looks so yummy! I do agree with Tracey that this was not a favorite of mine. Maybe I will try the sourcream sun like ya said for next time! 🙂
Thanks for baking along with me! I’m so glad you liked this one because so many people thought it was weird. Your bundt looks so moist with the perfect crumb. Now.. if only they would release a trailer or at least a teaser.. summer can’t come any quicker!
Your bundt cake looks great. Very moist and definitely chocolatey! Nice! I too love banana and chocolate :o)
Looks so rich with all of that dark cocoa. Nice job.