Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Walnuts

Yasss! Chocolate for breakfast. And peanut butter. And banana too.. YAS YAS YAS!

This banana bread was a success with all the ingredients and flavors complementing each other and yielding a very tender and flavorful loaf. There's also a teaspoon of instant coffee powder making them no doubt breakfast appropriate.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Walnuts
recipe adapted from Broma Bakery
makes 1 loaf

1/3 cup (85g) peanut butter, slightly melted
~1/4 cup (40g) organic coconut palm sugar
1 cup (262g) mashed bananas (about 2 1/2 bananas)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup (59g) cocoa
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (113g) white whole wheat flour
2/3 cup (85g) walnuts, chopped

optional (but highly recommended):

banana slices (about 1/2 banana)
3 tablespoon creamy peanut butter, melted

Mash them bananas!

Gather all wet ingredients (except eggs) + sugar..

and whisk!

Add eggs and whisk till combined.

Combine all dry ingredients, sift, and mix into wet.

Walnuts are always a good idea (:

Mix until no more dry flour.

Top with thinly sliced bananas and it is ready to bake!

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the slightly melted peanut butter, sugar, mashed bananas, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla..
3. Stir/sift in cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Stir/sift in flour.
5. Pour into loaf pan and top with thinly sliced banana pieces. Bake for roughly 55 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
6. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
7. Optional: top with peanut butter. Melt peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl for 30 seconds, stir, and drizzle over loaf. Serve!

The white whole wheat flour added nutritious whole grain values and gave the loaf a loose/dry-ish crumb. I imagine the crumbs to be moist and tight if AP flour was used. Sugar was also drastically lowered from 150g in the original recipe to 40g. The sweetness was perfect for me after the reduction, especially when compensated with a generous drizzle of peanut butter. Ahh, let's just take a moment to admire the beautiful color contrast of the pb drizzle on the dark chocolate loaf!!

Taste: 4 stars out of 5

Rich complex chocolate mocha/pb/banana flavors.

Texture: 3.8 stars out of 5

Bread like; on the firm/dry side, but still very tender and moist as the crumbs loosen and dissolve with each bite. The exterior was crisp when fresh out the oven!

*Presentation: 5 out of 5

Absolutely in love with how aesthetically pleasing this loaf is. The thinly sliced bananas, peanut butter drizzles, and the dark color loaf.. so perfect. Tip: go generous with the peanut butter drizzles!

Waffle Cookies - Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Walnut

Walter was put to work this past Saturday! He churned out some crispy and light EVOO waffles, delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, grilled cheese, and even fried an egg. I am absolutely impressed with how versatile waffle makers are.

The EVOO waffles turned out just as tasty as my previous blogged Macadamia Oil waffles - light, crispy, and fluffy. I simply replaced macadamia oil with EVOO, used organic coconut palm sugar instead of granulated, and added 1 tbsp flax seed for added nutritional value. You won't be able to stay away from these waffles once you have a taste.

The waffle cookies were a fun experiment, as were the grilled cheese and egg. The chocolate chips that were directly in contact with the waffle maker did burn, but the taste weren't affected much. The burnt parts gave the cookies a smoky caramelized note.

Waffle Cookies - Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Walnut
recipe adapted from 12 Tomatoes
makes 10 cookies

1/4 cup (57g) unsalted butter
1/4 cup (55g) organic coconut palm sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/8 cup (48g) all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
3/4 cup (60g) old fashioned oats
1/4 cup (45g) semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup (30g) chopped walnuts

Step 2: Add wet into dry.

Step 3: Fold in oats, chocolate chips, and nuts.

Step 4.

Cool and enjoy!

1. In large bowl, combine melted butter and brown sugar, then whisk in egg and vanilla until smooth.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to wet ingredients in increments until well combined.
3. Fold in oats, chocolate chips, and nuts to cookie batter until just incorporated.
4. Preheat waffle iron at high heat, grease with nonstick spray, and place a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough into each quadrant of waffle iron.
5. Cook for about 2 minutes depending on waffle iron's heat setting, or until golden brown and cooked through.
6. Transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool. Repeat with remaining dough, re-greasing iron as needed.

These cookies were slightly crisp when fresh and got softer overtime. Either way, they were yummy, and not to mention, super quick to make for cookie craving emergencies. The clean up for the burnt residues were a bit annoying though.

Taste: 5 stars out of 5
Buttery and not too sweet.
Texture: 4.5 stars out of 5
The oatmeal in these cookies gave them a chewy bite, and walnuts provided the perfect crunch surprise.

And in case you were wondering how my waffled egg turned out..

It worked!

Banana Bread Granola

My baking routine has been disrupted or paused for a little while now ever since my diet was turned upside down during our trip in New Orleans late February. 

A simple Greek yogurt banana bread and a unique banana bread granola are slowly easing me back into the game. 

With no oil and refined sugar, the banana bread was a little dense for my liking. But these banana bread granola thooooo.. These are great in my yogurt parfait and even just as a snack on their own. 

I love how the sweetness mask the not so pleasant Greek yogurt flavor (:

Banana Bread Granola
recipe adapted from Minimalist Baker
makes about 7 cups

240g old fashioned rolled oats
95g walnuts
40g pecans
25g sunflower seeds
38g coconut chips, unsweetened
1 Tbsp (10g) organic coconut palm sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon, ground
1 Tbsp flax seeds, ground
1 tsp chia seeds 

52g coconut oil, melted
100g maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 medium ripe banana, mashed  (~1/2 cup)

1. DRY: In large bowl, combine oats, nuts, seeds, coconut chips, sugar, sea salt, and cinnamon.
2. WET: In pot over low heat, combine oil, syrup, and vanilla and warm till liquid state.
3. WHISK: Whisk mashed banana into wet ingredients.
4. COMBINE: Pour wet ingredients into dry. Mix until evenly combined.
5. BAKE: Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, then spread granola mixture out in an even layer. Bake at 350F, gently stirring at 15 minutes, until the granola is golden-brown and dry, 30 minutes.
6. COOL: Let cool completely and transfer to jar to store. 

Dry ingredients.

All ready to combine together.

Last minute idea to throw in my leftover coconut chips.

Spread out to an even thickness layer.

Mix them up a bit to release the heat once they are done baking.

Good chunky size!

Yogurt parfait.

Granola > Greek yogurt.

Taste: 5 stars out of 5

Banana flavor was mild. Good amount of sweetness. Lovely toasty-ness from the nuts.

Texture: 4.5 stars out of 5

Not as crispy as my last granola, but nothing a little longer bake time can't fix.