I love the smell of banana bread baking. It’s the time of year where I need that smell almost constantly in the house. There’s just something about the aroma of sweet bananas and rich pumpkin pie spice. Yum! I whipped up this version a few weekends back and it was heavenly.
Smitten Kitchen’s Banana Bread (original recipe, I made a few tweaks)
4 overripe bananas
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
1.5 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice (or 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, pinch of ground cloves)
1 1/2 cup AP flour
1 cup milk chocolate chips
Tools of the trade:
In a stand mixer or big bowl, mash together the bananas and butter. Mix in the sugar. Then add the rest of the wet ingredients (egg and vanilla).
Up next, the dry ingredients!
First, a word about pumpkin pie spice. I bought this one recently from Trader Joe’s and I love it. It’s a blend of cinnamon, ginger, lemon peel, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom. Way better that having all of those collecting dust in individual bottles in the pantry. That’s the reason pumpkin pie spice is so great – it’s economical and practical! And delicious, duh.
Next, add all of the dry ingredients (pumpkin pie spice, flour, baking soda, and salt).
And finally, add the chocolate chips. Nothing but the best for this bread – I used Guittard’s semisweet chocolate chips (my favorite!).
Grease up a loaf pan (I used coconut oil spray) and add the dough.
Bake on 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
I am in love with this recipe. It’s simple but perfectly balanced. The flavors were delicious together and the bread was really moist. Definitely a late Fall/winter go-to!
Domestocrat 