Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I LOVE bananas! I eat one, sometimes two, a day. My daily breakfast consists of whole wheat toast, slathered with crunchy peanut butter, and topped with a sliced banana and a drizzle of honey. So tasty! Bananas ripen fast in the summer, so I have to find ways to use them up when if I have extras. Banana bread is a favorite of mines and this recipe is really easy and really good. My special ingredient makes it even better...

- 1 cup of granulated sugar

- 1 stick of unsalted butter- room temperature

- 2 large eggs- room temperature

- 3 ripe bananas ( I add more if I have them)

- 1 tablespoon of milk (skim milk even works here)

- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

- 2 cups of all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon of baking powder

- 1 teaspoon of baking soda

- 1 teaspoon of salt

- 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)

- Special Ingredient: 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I add a dash more when I'm stressed :)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan (I use the wrapper of the room temperature butter to grease the pan). Set aside. 

Using a hand mixer, cream the butter and the sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure that each egg is well incorporated.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas using a fork. Add the cinnamon and milk to the bananas. Stir and add to the butter, sugar and egg mixture. In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. It doesn't have to be sifted, but give it a quick whisk to make sure everything is combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 batches. Gently fold the flour into the mixture. Once all of the flour is incorporated, fold in the nuts and the chocolate chips. 

Pour the batter into the loaf pan, smooth the top with a spatula, and bake for 1hr and 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in the loaf pan and then invert on to a cooling rack and let it cool completely. 

I actually like mines a little warm with butter and honey drizzled on top! SO GOOD!!

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