Amazing Banana Bread with Blueberries and Chocolate Chips

Since I work out regularly (you know, to balance out all the delicious food I’m always making around here hehehe), I end up buying bananas on the regular. They’re cheap, practical to eat, have decent nutrition, and you can always mix them with yogurt or make a smoothie. But bananas ripen super fast and that’s because bananas are basically the kings of ethylene gas production, which speeds up all ripening processes.

All this to say that I always have overripe bananas lying around hahaha, so my choices are either eat them or peel and freeze them for desserts, ice creams, smoothies, or a beautiful cake. One of my favorites is banana bread, it’s fluffy and like most cakes with fruits or vegetables, has a denser texture and more complex, rich flavor. Add brown sugar and spices and you’ve got a simple to bake wonderfully rustic and delicious cake. This is a fantastic variation of traditional banana bread, this time with blueberries and chocolate chips.

I kinda like to make variations of plain banana bread because I think the first slice is always yummy, but after a while it’s just okay. But with a little chocolate and a little fruit like blueberries, it becomes way more bright and flavorful! In this case, I saw some chocolate chips for sale and had some frozen blueberries… hmm, I think we have a cake! Let’s get to the recipe!

Amazing Banana Bread with Blueberries and Chocolate Chips

Servings: 12
Time: 1hr
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
Print

Because let's be honest, plain banana bread is like a good book with a boring cover hehehe still good, but nobody gets excited about it! So how about changing it up a bit hehehe.

Ingredients

Sugar – 180g
Flour – 260g
Baking Powder – 1 Teaspoon
Baking Soda – 1 Teaspoon
Butter – 120g
Butter – For Greasing
Eggs – 2 large (at Room Temperature)
Bananas – 4 (Medium, Ripe)
Milk – 1 Tablespoon
Honey – 1 Tablespoon
Chocolate Chips – 100g (Dark Chocolate)
Blueberries – 100g (Frozen)
Cinnamon – 1 Teaspoon
Nutmeg – A Pinch
Cumin – A Pinch
Salt – A Pinch

Directions

Start by preparing a baking pan lined with non-stick paper greased with butter, preheat the oven to 160ºC (352ºF), and set the pan aside.
Combine the sugar and butter in a bowl and whisk until you obtain a smooth cream, continuing to whisk as you add the eggs one by one, whisking well between each addition.

In another bowl, mash the bananas until you have a smooth paste, then mix in the milk and honey.
In a third bowl, combine the sifted flour with the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, and salt.

Then add the sugar mixture to the banana purée, mix until everything is well combined, then add the flour mixture and mix everything together.
Finally, add 2/3 of the chocolate chips and blueberries to the batter, mix a little more and pour into the pan, cover with the remaining chocolate chips and blueberries.

Bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. If the top starts to brown too much, cover with aluminium foil to protect it. Remove from the oven when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Finally, let it cool before removing from the pan (it will become denser as it cools). Bon appétit!

Notes: This cake, like almost all cakes with fruits and vegetables, will have a lot of moisture, so you need to bake it in a less hot oven and for a bit longer to get it nice and tender.

Also, since it’s something between bread and cake in terms of texture, you can easily cut very thin slices and freeze them. Then when you want a slice, just put one in the toaster, it’s fantastic! The cumin might sound strange, but it adds a subtle warmth that complements the cinnamon beautifully.

If your blueberries are fresh instead of frozen, toss them in a little flour before folding into the batter to prevent them from sinking to the bottom.

For extra indulgence, try adding a handful of chopped walnuts along with the chocolate chips and blueberries.

Fun Fact: Putting bananas near other fruits actually helps speed up their ripening too! If your avocados are too green, just put them near some bananas and watch them ripen in no time.

This recipe for Amazing Banana Bread with Blueberries and Chocolate Chips was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Bolo de Banana com Mirtilos e Pepitas de Chocolate foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.