ginger and chocolate chunk banana bread

A few months ago I became uncharacteristically concerned with how few raw vegetables make it into my life and decided to try and drink smoothies for breakfast.  Spoiler alert, I hate smoothies but thankfully finally hit my stride with something that included cashews and dates and a lot of cleaning out the nutribullet my mom let me borrow.

The smoothie train lasted an astounding 2.5 weeks and I cannot tell you how much more banana bread has come into my life now that I’m in that sweet spot of still buying all the smoothie ingredients but never actually making the smoothie.

There is a special place in my heart for Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery and anything and everything that comes out of her kitchen.  Whenever I go there I have a pretty consistent order of one breakfast sandwich, one lemon ginger scone, and one slice of banana bread.  The sandwich and the scone are part of my balanced breakfast, and the banana bread I pack up and let chill in the fridge until the next morning.

It turns into a dense brick of banana bread and that is exactly how I like it.  It’s almost fudge-like, which is the texture I’d choose over all others when it comes to cakes and quick breads.

The addition of ginger and chocolate is thanks to an article I read that Meghan Markle puts ginger and chocolate in her banana bread.  If you need any more explanation than that, I’ve got nothing for you.

Not surprisingly, it’s genius. The spicy/sweet ginger is such a perfect compliment to the rich banana bread and dark chocolate.  I haven’t added in the toasted walnuts per the original recipe from Flour but I still have so many unmade smoothies to go in my life – I’m sure I will find the time.

ginger and chocolate chunk banana bread

(recipe adapted from Flour Bakery)

1 2/3 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup mild flavored oil (canola or olive oil both work well)

3-4 ripe bananas, mashed

2 tablespoons sour cream (or full fate greek yogurt)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup diced candied ginger

1/2 cup chocolate chunks

directions

Preheat your oven to 325 and prepare your loaf pan by buttering and laying a sheet of parchment on the bottom.

Stir together your flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.  In your stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat together the sugar and eggs until they are light and fluffy.  This should take around 5 minutes.  Next, slowly (like slower than you think) drizzle in your oil, careful not to deflate that fluffy egg and sugar mixture.

Stir in the bananas, sour cream, and vanilla on low speed until just combined.  By hand, stir in the flour mixture, making sure to mix in any flour streaks.  Finally, stir in the ginger and chocolate (walnuts too if you’re feeling it!)

Pour into your prepared pan and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes.  Check for doneness around an hour but I usually find mine takes anywhere from 70-80 minutes.

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.  I love this stored in the fridge for ultimate fudge cake goodness.

Enjoy!