easy & delicious banana bread: yes, i baked!

how to bake a moist & delicious loaf of banana bread when you can't bake:

something about bananas. you either buy too many or not enough. sometimes they don't seem  to meet the household demand (such as in the smoothie craze that was going on at our house recently), while others (the smoothie phase seems to have come to an abrupt end and i have not heard the blender even once in weeks), they sit in the fruit bowl looking lost, lonely and gray (more like black). if i'm staying on top of things, i peel and cut them to store in the freezer for use in acai bowls (while being mildly aware they'd be perfect for banana bread).  having very little confidence in my own baking skills, i'm not sure why this time the recurring (bananabread) thought stuck around long enough for me to dig up an old recipe my aunt had shared with me several years ago. the new baker in me decided the recipe had too much (white) sugar, not enough bananas, and was badly in need of cinnamon, dark chocolate chips, and walnuts to make the loaf just that much better (for you). by the look of things (the resulting moist and rather good looking loaf of deliciousness), a new baker may have been born! okay, i won't go that far, but hey-maybe she can bake a good little loaf of (banana) bread. yes she can.

ingredients for one loaf of cooking minette's {chocolatey} banana bread:

• 2 organic eggs, beaten
• 4 ripe bananas, peeled and mushed
• 1/2 cup raw brown sugar
• 1/2-1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup *vegetable oil (i use avocado or grape seed oil)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp good vanilla
• a pinch of sea salt
• 2 cups whole wheat flour (or half all purpose and half ww)
• 1/4 cup (more or less) dark chocolate chips
• a handful of walnuts, roughly chopped (or keep them whole for topping)
• *applesauce may be substituted for a lighter, yet less fluffy and moist version

preheat oven to 350 degrees. beat the eggs in a bowl, then add sugar, crushed (mushed up) bananas, vanilla, and oil, mix well. combine mixture with the dry ingredients (you can either add the walnuts inside the batter or keep them for the top only-add to the top after pouring into loaf pan). mix well making sure everything is evenly and thoroughly combined, then pour into a lightly greased loaf pan. sprinkle a teaspoon or two of brown sugar and a touch of cinnamon over the top (along with walnuts) before baking for about 50-60 minutes. allow the loaf to cool before removing from pan and slicing. yumyum. *for muffins: use same recipe-reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes.