I never really get an urge to make banana bread, or a craving for the taste of it; it’s always some overripe bananas that need to get used that remind me to make things banana-related. This Friday there were quite a few bananas left over from my office’s biweekly fruit delivery, and I hate to let good food go to waste, especially if it was shipped across continents to get to me, so I grabbed a few to bring home for baking.
I was looking around for something a little different than the standard banana bread with walnuts, and I came across this recipe at Molly Wizenberg’s Orangette. Chocolate Chips and Crystalized Ginger were just the thing!
Unfortunately, my oven may run a little cool, or I should have just poked it to check for doneness like the recipe told me to do, but either way the center came out a bit doughy, which isn’t really what you want in a quick bread. In my youth I licked as much blueberry muffin mix off a wooden spoon as the next kid, but it’s somehow WAY less appealing in the middle of your slice of banana bread than it was scraped out of the bowl as a kid. (If you look closely at the photo, you may see the mushy spot near the center.) So, sadly, I threw away the middle slices of this loaf, after spending the evening picking at the crusty edges. The ends provided a couple delicious pieces each.
I used the crystalized ginger from Trader Joe’s, and since I don’t keep milk at my house, some almond milk in place of the milk. I also used Toll House mini chocolate chips, which were very nice. I also pretty much always use salted butter, I just don’t taste the difference in baking, but I hate it when I accidentaly buter my bread with unsalted butter, yuck.
Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Crystalized Ginger
1 C. sugar
1 large egg
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 ripe medium-size bananas
3 T. milk (or soy milk, or almond milk)
2 C. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
1 C. chocolate chips
1/4 -1/2 C. small chunks of candied ginger, to taste
½ C. chopped walnuts, optional
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan with butter or cooking spray, and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar, egg, and butter.
In a separate bowl, mash bananas; then mix with milk.
In another separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in three parts, alternating with banana-milk mixture in two parts, stirring by hand until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips, ginger, and optional nuts.
Turn batter into loaf pan, smoothing top with the back of a spoon, and bake for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes; then remove bread from pan and cool on a wire rack