Remember that time you bought bananas to make banana bread with your partner’s abuela and then the world had other ideas? Moral of the story? We’re now on lock down until June 10th 2020 in Virginia. Here’s to hoping the next 10 weeks go by fairly quickly. There’s going to be real isolation setting in for some people so please reach out and check on each other. Reach out to me if you want. Reach out to your friends and family or neighbors. Let’s make sure we’re all doing as well as we can in these weird times.

I had plans to make banana bread with D’s grandma, but we everything going on we can’t risk it. Abuela, this one is for you. The bananas wouldn’t wait. Inspiration for the split banana on top to make it “IG worthy” came from Hummingbird High. Thanks It’s great.

This recipe turned out great. I learned a lot along the way as well. HH taught me that it does matter more in the weight of the bananas than the volume as you need to make sure you really have enough to interact with the baking soda. Without that and the taste will be off. You might even get PTSD flashbacks from your parents washing your mouth out with soap. Yeah not enough bananas can apparently make it taste soapy. Also it’s not 1950 anymore. Did anyone really have their parents wash their mouth out with soap? Next lesson came when trying to figure out some substitutions that I needed to do. I didn’t have buttermilk and that was going to be a problem. You see the stores have nothing left because the world is ending. Anyway a little bit of research told me that buttermilk and sour cream have the same PH. That’s what I needed to hear. This means the chemistry shouldn’t change too much and that I should get a good rise out of the baking soda. SCIENCE. I needed a fat / oil to help hold things together. I chose canola oil over butter as I’ve never seen butter in banana bread. Since canola oil would bring more moisture I reduce the amount I choose by a little bit. I also later figured out that I didn’t turn the oven on so there’s a lesson learned there too. As I was moving spices around to get to the ingredients I needed I had a spark of an idea to add some cinnamon. There isn’t much there but the little bit you can taste does give it a nice finishing note. I had wanted to do all brown sugar but that lead to an issue in a different recipe that’s not ready for the site so I made sure to add in some granulated. The last major lesson is avoid the stupid silicone pan. It’s a pain in the ass to hold steady and it’s AWFUL at heat transfer. This added another 20 - 30 minutes to the bake which is why it’s so dark on top. I’ve already gone ahead and ordered one from Nordic Ware. Second time this thing has bitten me. I guess I’m a slow learner.

Overall I’m super stoked with how this came out. The dark and semi sweet chocolate chunks really are a nice surprise when you bite into them. The sliced banana on top really makes the loaf more appealing to the eye. Last quick note is I put the dry ingredients in a bowl first and set them aside just so the wet ingredients wouldn’t separate while I slowly measured things out. Again lesson learned from a different mess up on something not quite ready for prime time.

Stay safe and keep your physical distance.

Ingredients

• 1/3 Cup canola oil

• 1/2 Cup sour cream

• 1/2 Cup granulated Sugar

• 1 Cup dark brown sugar (packed)

• 2 Large Eggs - room temp - yes i forgot to do this also

• 1 teaspoon of vanilla

• 1 teaspoon of baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

• 2 Cups All Purpose Flour

• 12 ounces of very ripe bananas - look for spots (for best bets weigh this - otherwise a cup of bananas)

• 1 banana sliced in half for the top (optional)

• 1/2 Cup dark chocolate chunks

• 1/2 cup large semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees

2. In a bowl mix the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon (set aside)

3. In the bowl of your stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and oil until fluffy

4. Add the eggs one at a time mixing until incorporated

5. Mix in the vanilla

6. Weigh the bananas and then add them to the bowl. Mix to combine

7. Slow add in the dry ingredients, mixing until combined

8. Add in the chocolate and mix for 10 seconds

9. Oil and then line a 9x5 in loaf pan with parchment paper. Lightly oil the parchment paper (or risk it, whatever)

10. Pour the batter into the loaf pan

11. For a picture worthy loaf split a banana in half and gently lay on top. Sprinkle additional chocolate on top as well

12. Bake for 1 hour. Check with a toothpick to make sure it comes out clean

13. Cool in pan on rack and then using the parchment paper lift the loaf out to continue to cool on rack

14. Take awesome pictures, post to IG, and enjoy your new banana bread creation

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