Chocolate Banana Bread

As seen on

Alison Roman

Rating

(0)

Ingredients

1 loaf

1/2 cup Demerara sugar (regular sugar will work, too)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
5 extremely ripe bananas, 4 coarsely mashed and 1 sliced lengthwise
1/2 cup (4 oz) mascarpone, full-fat sour cream, full-fat yogurt, or labne

American Desserts Kid-Friendly Baking ...

How would you rate this recipe?

Preparation

Inline ingredients (beta)

Cook mode (keeps screen awake)

Click to complete

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with a nonstick spray. Sugar the inside of the pan with 1/4 cup of the Demerara sugar (or regular sugar if you don’t have Demerara), tapping out any excess.

Step 2

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together; set aside.

Step 3

Using an electric mixer and a separate medium bowl or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, light brown sugar and vanilla on high speed until the mixture is super light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Using a spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg. Beat until well combined and the mixture returns to that previously light, fluffy state, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients and beat just to blend. Using a spatula, fold in the mashed bananas, followed by the mascarpone, mixing just to blend.

Step 4

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top. Place the banana halves, cut-side up, on top of the batter. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup Demerara sugar and bake until the sides start to pull away and the cake is baked through in the center (it’s a very dense, moist cake, but it should still spring back slightly when pressed in the center), about 90 to 100 minutes.