Now, I promised myself I wouldn't do too much baking after I wrapped up creating my first cookbook: for at least six months. However, I absolutely couldn't resist when it came to creating this Chocolate Banana Bread (with a genius addition of freeze dried strawberries!) Seriously, how vibrant and heavenly does this look? Do you blame me? There is something magical about including fruit into baked goods that just puts them over the top-- this is especially true when you don't need to add any extra sweeteners because the fruit itself does enough sweetening on its own! That's exactly what happened with this bread. If you're using very ripe bananas, there won't be a need to additionally sweeten these treats!
In fact, I have found myself grabbing a piece of this Chocolate Banana Bread and adding it to my breakfast. Seriously, it's not very sweet and it's the perfect compliment to an already savory breakfast.
Life has been a bit crazy lately. Just yesterday, I partook in a fun photoshoot with my friend Anya over at Anya's Eats! We teamed up with my wedding photographer Studio 19 Photography to do a late afternoon/early evening photoshoot around Encinitas. For those of you who don't live in Southern California and haven't heard of Encinitas, imagine the most hip, artistic and gorgeous California beach town.
We ended up walking around downtown Encinitas and taking some shots at a local coffee shop that all 3 of us happen to love. Afterwards, we strolled through the neighborhood behind the coffee shop which overlooked the beach. Seriously, those houses were insane. We found a retro van that we took some shots in front of and then wandered down to the beach to take the rest. It was a blast. Honestly, it's so uncomfortable sometimes being in front of the camera, especially since I'm always used to being behind it instead. I'm thankful that Anya was able to do silly dances and make funny faces behind our photographer to help me relax and let loose during the shoot. I was so nervous for most of it!
Seriously, this chocolate banana bread had me feeling all kinds of goodness after having just one bite. My husband Tim came home to them the other night after work around midnight and couldn't resist either. I'm so thankful that I have him around- otherwise, I don't know what I'd do with all of these goodies. He's the best garbage disposal ever!!
This weekend, we will be celebrating Tim's best friend's birthday in downtown San Diego. I know there will be plenty of drinking taking place and lots of shenanigans, so I've been preparing myself for that pretty much all week. What does that entail? Lots of green juice, bone broth, vitamin C, etc. Yes, when I go out drinking all weekend, I need to "prepare" leading up to it- call me crazy.
Without too much further ado, I recommend you get to making this chocolate banana bread ASAP! I've been really into making raw cashew flour recently. I don't eat almonds, so it's been a wonderful substitute in the majority of my baked goods. You should try it, too! Just trust me.
Chocolate Banana Bread (with strawberries!)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup raw cashews
- 3 large very ripe bananas
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- â…“ cup coconut flour
- â…“ cup cacao powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 3 oz dark chocolate bar coarsely chopped, at least 70% cacao
- ¼ cup freeze-dried strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Lightly cover an 8x8 inch baking dish with melted ghee or coconut oil and line with parchment paper. Be sure to leave enough parchment paper hanging over the sides so you can easily lift the finished bread out. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse raw cashews until they resemble a coarse flour. This will take at least 30 seconds. Be careful not to let it turn into cashew butter! Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- In a high speed blender, add bananas, eggs and vanilla and blend until smooth.
- Add coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt to the mixing bowl with cashew flour. Whisk until well combined. Gently fold in the wet ingredients and stir until well combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chunks, reserving a few tablespoons for sprinkling on top. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan and sprinkle remaining chocolate chunks on top. Layer the freeze dried strawberries over the top. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let slightly cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. After 30 minutes, cut into bars.
Chocolate and Banana - a total winner! This dessert is perfect for a potluck!
I am all over this!!! Banana bread...yes. Chocolate...yes. Strawberries...yes!