Ready to start the week on a rich, chocolatey, healthy foot? I am!
When this recipe dawned on me, I bolted into the kitchen and started mixing frantically. I love the combination of rich chocolate and sweet cherries, and the last of the cherries in the fridge were beckoning me (the over-ripe bananas had already been nagging me for days).
When I pulled the Chocolate Cherry Banana Bread out of the oven, it smelled so delicious, that a certain fiance of mine chimed in from the living room, “hurry up and take some pictures of it so I can cut it!!” How enthusiastic! So, I did.
This banana bread is so moist and so full of chocolate flavor, you’d swear it was a cake, waiting to be frosted.
Chocolate Cherry Banana Bread
(makes one 9×5” loaf)
¼ cup softened butter (or substitute of your choice)
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup coconut sugar (or raw or granulated sugar)
1/3 cup Splenda
2 egg whites
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large over-ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ cup flour (I used Spelt, but a mix of all purpose and whole wheat would be great too)
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ cup fresh cherries, pitted*, cut in half (you can substitute frozen, thawed cherries)
*I pitted mine with a knife, but OXO makes a cherry pitter that would have made it so much easier!
~Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9×5” loaf pan with nonstick spray.
~In the bowl of your mixer combine the butter and the applesauce. Add the sugar and Splenda and beat until fluffy. Add the egg whites and vanilla. Then, add the mashed bananas. Finally, add all of the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated and well combined. Finally, add the cherries and stir them into the batter.
~Transfer the batter into the loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Check the loaf with a test stick to make sure it is cooked through (no crumbs come up with the stick). When it is done cooking, let cool on a wire rack for 30 min before removing the loaf from the pan, then let cool to touch before wrapping with cling-wrap. Serve room temperature; enjoy!
Note: I am going to enter this recipe into the OXO Cherry Recipe Contest! Wish me luck!
Want a yummy chocolate-cherry treat to go with this one? Try my Skinny Black Forest Shake!
Want a yummy chocolate-cherry treat to go with this one? Try my Skinny Black Forest Shake!
Yum!! That combo sound fantastic.