I remember the first time I ever had banana bread was at my auntie's place. She was and is literally the best home baker I have ever met and my biggest baking inspiration. We never visited her often because she lived a bit far but every visit was worthwhile considering how much baked goods would be stuffed in me, my sister's and my cousins' mouths and bellies. You know the witch's house from Hansel & Gretel, yeah! exactly like that but now there was no witch just a super sweet auntie and four little girls eating cakes and cookies like Bruce from Matilda. :)
Fast-forward to this last week when we had so many bananas from my dad's farm and they were nearly going bad. I knew I had to make banana bread because it had been so long. There was one small issue though, my dad doesn't like banana bread. So I had to figure out how I can make the banana bread one that he would like and I nailed it! Adding cocoa powder to my recipe absolutely killed the game! Cinnamon, banana and chocolate feels like a huge hug in your mouth honestly, and if my dad loved it, I'm sure you and your loved ones will! :) Without further ado, let's get baking!
Prep Time: 15 mins | Baking Time: 50 mins | Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
Ingredients:
1¼ cup All Purpose Flour
½ cup Cocoa Powder
½ cup Sugar (¾ cup if you're a sweet tooth)
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla Extract (or Essence)
½ cup Coconut Oil (melted)
½ cup Chocolate Almond Milk (or chocolate milk of choice)
3 Ripe Bananas (plus one extra for garnish, optional)
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and line your baking tin with oil or butter.
In a bowl, mash 3 bananas with a fork. Add your milk, coconut oil and vanilla extract and mix well.
In a separate bowl, mix your flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon until well combined.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon (like the mwiko for ugali) or a spatula and mix until well combined. Be careful not to over-mix your batter.
Add your batter to your prepped baking tin and bake at 180°C for 50 mins - 1 hr. (test by poking the middle of the cake with a wooden skewer or knife and it comes out clean)
Let your cake cool inside the tin for about 30 mins then you can take it out and cool it further on a rack or plate for 15 mins. And enjoy!
Wasn't that super simple? I hope you enjoy making this cake (bread) as much as I did and that you and your loved ones enjoy the heck out of it!
When you make it please share it with me on my instagram, I'd love to see how it turned out!
Until next time, Nawapenda sana!
