I’m a bit of a food snob. When I’m out and have a slice of a sweet (brownie, cookie, quick bread, etc.) with a cup of coffee at a restaurant or cafe, upon tasting the sweet I immediately assess it. And in my mind the #1 baking offense is to ‘overbake’ something or not have enough richness to the recipe to begin with. Both of which results in a dry baked good. Which is, in the words of my older sister Barb, “dégoût”. Which I believe is French for ‘disgust’ but which she interprets as “A waste of calories on a less than delicious treat.”
Quick breads such as banana bread should never be dry. In fact – its moistness is essential to giving it flavor and appeal. And this banana bread recipe is high on both. Easy too. Of course you can make it without the chocolate chips, or perhaps you would like to add nuts to it. Any of these versions still result in a moist, delicious treat.
When making banana bread or banana cake, I have found that what works best for me is to take ripe bananas and put them in the freezer for at least a week (my freezer tends to be a holding bin for such bananas for months at a time). They’ll turn brown/black in there but once removed and thawed for a recipe they will practically slide out of their skins and are very easily be incorporated into any baked good recipe.
This recipe makes one big loaf but I like, instead, to make 4 mini loaves. That way I can put at least a couple in the freezer to use for another time. 
Really Moist Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (adapted from a recipe found on Gail’s Recipe Swap, now defunct)
Makes 1 loaf or 4 mini loaves*
- 8 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1.5 cups sugar
- a generous 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 egg
- 3 ripe bananas (or 2 large)
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Cream sugar and butter in large bowl. Add egg, sour cream, bananas and vanilla. Mix well.
- Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda to the mixture above. Beat until incorporated; don’t overbeat.
- Fold in the 1 cup of mini chocolate chips.
- If making mini loaves – start checking on loaves after 25 minutes. If making one large loaf – start checking after 45 minutes. Bread is done with toothpick (or knife) is inserted in the middle of the loaf and comes out clean (or has a trace amount of crumbs on it).
Variations: Add 1 cup chopped walnuts.
*You can find mini baking loaf pans at kitchen stores or on the internet. They should measure approximately 6″ long, 2″ deep and 3″ across.
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