Chocolate Banana Crunch Bread

Mmmmm! Banana bread is delicious, but who can argue when you add chocolate to it? Ok, perhaps some people, but I'm not one of them, so I will add chocolate to a lot of things :). This recipe has the added bonus (for me :) ) of not only a chocolate banana bread, but chocolate chips and toffee bits as well. yum... sweet!


This recipe comes from one of my favorite bread blogs thekneadforbread.com (this is the blog for it's parent site: cookingbread.com which I've found to be a valuable resource with plenty of fun recipes and how-to's.)

Chocolate Banana Crunch Bread
from cookingbread.com

4 cups flour
2 tsps baking soda
2 tsps baking powder
2 tsps cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup soft butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
6 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsps vanilla
6 ripe bananas
1/2 cup powdered cocoa
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup toffee bits
extra 1/4 cup buttermilk

In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Using a wire whisk, mix the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, peel and mash your bananas. Add in the eggs, butter, vanilla, and 1 cup of buttermilk. Mix together with a whisk till well blended. Add in the white adn brown sugar to the liquid mixture; stir till well blended. Now, separate the flour mixture into 2 bowls (make sure there are equal amounts in each bowl, us a measuring cup to separate). In one of the bowls add in the cocoa powder and blend with a whisk.

Take the banana mixture and separate into 2 bowls again (make sure there are equal amounts, use a measuring cup to separate). In the bowl that is going into the chocolate flour mixture, add an extra 1/4 cup of buttermilk and stir. Add the banana mixtures into each bowl of flour. Now, mix each bowl just until blended. Add the chocolate chips into the chocolate bowl and the toffee bits into the plain bowl.

Grease two 5x9" loaf pans. Add a little of each mixture into pans being sure to alternate between the chocolate and plain mixtures. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 55-60 minutes (15-20 minutes for muffins) or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the loaf pans for 10 minutes before removing and cooling on a wire rack.