chocolate banana bread

I always have leftover bananas. 

Is this a problem for anyone else out there?

I think most of my problem is, that while I love bananas, I only eat them at a certain stage.  

As in the green stage.

Not bright green, but absolutely NO black marks yet.

They have to be greenish-yellow and no marks.

So, this is maybe why I always have a ton of bananas that I don't deem good enough to eat.  

But the upside is that I'm always trying new recipes for overripe bananas and coming up with some pretty good ones :)

Like this!

Chocolate Banana Bread

Makes one loaf.

1/2 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped (I used a mix!)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 ripe bananas, mashed well

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350*. 

Butter and flour the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Set aside. In a large bowl, sift and whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. 

With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined and batter is thick and chunky. 

Fold in the nuts and chocolate chips.  

Scrape batter into prepared pan. 

Bake until bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 65 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.