I know what you’re thinking. HOW MANY LOAVES OF BANANA BREAD IS THIS GIRL GOING TO MAKE?!?! I ask myself the same question, honestly. But then the question went out the window when I tasted the decadence that is this chocolate marble banana bread. Because, you see, it’s deceptive decadence. It tastes like the most indulgent, chocolate swirled banana bread, but really, it’s got some good stuff in it– Greek yogurt, some whole wheat flour (but not all whole wheat like our other banana bread recipe), still about that agave life (no sugar here!) and, of course, coconut oil. No butter means #HulkApproved my friends! I avoid another lecture about my incessant baking once again! Seriously though- you won’t even know this one’s healthy… except, you know, I just told you. After all, who would think anything chocolate marble could be healthy? Well, let’s be honest: it’s not kale, people. It’s still chocolate and it’s still bread. But, we are making some better decisions here. Better than kale, specifically. At least in my opinion. 😀
The real good news is this was NOT (for once!) a product of my mother’s perpetual donation of overripe bananas to Casa de Nelson. In fact, I saved these bananas for this very purpose. Why? Because I have a darling friend and neighbor on bed rest (read: house arrest) with her very first baby girl whom I’ve been faithfully pumping full of baked goods for the last couple of weeks. That’s what friends are for, right? But really though, I had to make sure to keep it light and at least healthyish so Mommy won’t have too many calories to burn off, and the little princess won’t start too many bad habits too early. At least not on my account!
Part 2 of this experiment was those super cute little polka dot loaf pans! I saw them at Target and thought- how perfect! I’ll just bake them right in there and give them to whomever I please (because they certainly can’t stay in this house, healthyish or not!) and we’ll just share the love, one loaf at a time. It worked! …kinda. They baked perfectly, but… good luck getting them out. I mean, if you’re the type to gnaw every crumb off the cupcake wrapper, you’ll have no qualms with these. The packaging said no need to grease the containers, and I listened… maybe a little coconut oil would’ve been a good idea anyway. Whatever! It was still delicious. Now for that recipe:
- 2 large or 3 medium-size bananas
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅔ cup agave
- ¼ cup softened coconut oil plus 1 teaspoon
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and grease a loaf pan with 1 teaspoon of coconut oil and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mash the bananas until there aren't any large chunks. Add the coconut oil (softened, not melted), agave, and Greek yogurt and stir to combine. Beat in the egg and stir in the vanilla until you have a smooth mixture.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until everything is incorporated, but don't overmix.
- In a separate microwave-safe bowl, heat the chocolate chips until almost melted, about 45 seconds to 1 minute. Stir with a rubber spatula to melt completely into a smooth consistency.
- Add 1 cup of batter to the melted chocolate to create the chocolate batter.
- Alternately spoon plain batter and chocolate batter into the loaf pan and swirl with a knife.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.