Banana Bread Mission Part 3: Cacaovonana Bread + Nomzies is going on a hiatus!
These are the last pictures from my beautiful wooden summer apartment. I’ve moved back into the dorms and class has started once again. This is also likely my last post until my next big break from school. (I write one here and there, but most likely my next heading will say “Merry Christmas!”) My long and relaxing summer has come to a bittersweet end, so I’m going to end my first “season” of recipes with bittersweet bread.
This is also the third installment of my banana bread mission. This is not the final installment of my banana bread mission, however. My epic obsessive and impulsive habit of turning over-ripe bananas into leavened baked goods will most certainly continue. If you still think that the words banana bread and mission don’t belong in the same phrase, you better check out my Banana Walnut Snacking Bread and Double Chocolate Banana Muffins.
I’m taking the chocolate route again today with a cacao-studded cocoa flavored banana bread that gets all of its richness from avocado. I usually don’t like to go the healthy route with my baked goods, but I needed to eat all of my perishable foodstuff before I moved out. My speckled bananas and lone avocado were just begging to be mashed together and baked into chocolate bread.
Luckily, I listened to my fruit basket, and created Cacaovonana Bread! Forget what I said earlier about healthy. This bread tastes so decadent and chocolaty that I’d take a slab of this over buttery Devil’s Food Cake anytime. It has a moist crumb, deep dark chocolate flavor, and crunchy pieces of cacao nibs in every bite. I ate the whole loaf myself in three days, not exaggerating. I didn’t share with anyone this time, ha. It’s just the right amount of sweet and utterly addictive. I also tried freezing half the loaf but I just ended up microwaving it and gobbling it up anyway. I’m not kidding when I say it’s good.
If you don’t have white-whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour, you can substitute with half all-purpose flour, half regular whole wheat flour. I find regular whole wheat flour to be a bit too coarse to use on its own in banana bread. For a subtle vanilla flavor, I actually used the coffee liquor that I’d soaked my leftover vanilla bean pod in after making semifreddo but of course vanilla extract works just as well. If you don’t have cacao nibs, well, you can order them on amazon. Sure, you can replace them with chocolate chips, but then it wouldn’t be CACAOvonana bread now would it?
That’s all from me for the summer! I can’t believe that school is starting already. I wish you all a wonderful next few months and please wish me luck for classes! (I kind of need it.)
Happy munching!!!
Cacaovonana Bread
Makes 1 loaf, (8 breakfast-sized slices or 16 snacking pieces)
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 ripe avocado, pureed (about ½ cup)
3 overripe small bananas, pureed (about 1 ¼ cups)
2 tbsps. coffee liquor
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 tbsps. Greek yogurt
½ cup cacao nibs
¼ cup toasted pecans, chopped
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined and no clumps of cocoa powder remain.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the avocado, bananas, coffee liquor, vanilla, and Greek yogurt. Whisk again until evenly combined.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined. Fold in the cacao nibs and pecans.
5. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Slice and serve.
Bread keeps in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 6 weeks.
