Wal-Nutty Marbled Banana Bread

Yes… yes… I know. My banana bread slices look a little short. I can explain…. You see, it’s like this.

I faced a major dilemma earlier this week. I was in possession of only two ripe bananas and I wanted to make two loaves of this yummy banana bread.

So, what’s a girl to do?

Well, I personally thought this was the perfect occasion to crack open Michael Scott’s famous mediator’s tool chest, more so than to settle the Oscar/Angela poster dispute.

Knowing that I didn’t want to have to deal with any of this lose/lose business, I headed straight to conflict resolution style number 5 better known as win/win/win

.

Which of course lead me to… DUH! Divide the batter amongst two loaf pans! Voilà, everyone wins!

In case you were wondering why I chose to name this precious loaf “Wal-Nutty”, well the obvious reason is because I used whole shelled walnuts. And secondly because the very first time I made it I was nutty enough to leave this little person iPod and all, in charge of the oven while I went to take a shower.

Needless to say a few of us had banana bread toast a few days that week.

Wal-Nutty Marbled Banana Bread

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (approximately 2 medium bananas)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup hershey’s cocoa powder
1/2 cup hershey’s dark cocoa powder
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup shelled walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line two loaf pans with a piece of parchment or wax paper.*

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, add the eggs one at a time and mix until combined.

Sift or whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

In a small bowl combine the mashed bananas, sour cream and vanilla, stir until evenly combined.

Alternate adding the mashed banana mixture and flour mixture into the the creamed butter mixture. Mix on low, just until combined in three batches.

Pour 15 ounces of batter into a clean bowl, stir in the cocoa powder, buttermilk, and 1/2 cup walnuts.

Stir in remaining 1/2 cup walnuts and chocolate chips into the plain banana batter.

Alternate spoonfuls of each batter into the prepared pan until both batters have been added into the pan. Tap the pan on the counter to evenly distribute the batter. With a knife or spatula inserted as close to the bottom as possible drag it down the middle of the pan in an “S” pattern.

Bake in the middle rack for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

*Note: If you would rather not bother with this two loaf business, by all means just set yourself up with one lined 12x4x2.5 pan and bake away for approximately 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Bamboo plate provided by RestaurantWare.com. If you would like to pick some up for yourself just use the code [ daydreamerdesserts ] at checkout for a cool 10% off your purchase.

Tagged as: Banana, Chocolate, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, Walnuts