Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Zebra Striped Banana Bread - when it's a jungle out there.



Banana bread is always so...... the same.  Same texture, same flavor, same color even.  In this recipe however, the color changes!  Who can resist a stripe of rich chocolate down the center of everyday banana bread?  Well, this isn’t normal banana bread.  You’ll just have to experience it for yourself.


My grandkids thought this bread should be called “Zebra Bread” - and I thought “Why not?”.  Bananas are for monkeys, and this bread looks like it belongs to the zebra family.  

We don’t jump up and down for banana bread around here.  We save that for cookies or cheesecake, but banana bread is usually just so-so.  After the first few (HAS to be WARM) slices, my family has had enough and it usually sits there forever until I throw it away.  (Small loaves work best for us - then I don’t feel like we have to finish so much at a time).

I wasn’t prepared for how much my kids would love this version of banana bread.  When I saw it on cookinglight.com (from the Cooking Light Sept 2003 issue) a few years ago, it caught my eye because it was just so beautiful.  I’ve had it in my file since then, and finally decided to make it so I wouldn’t feel so guilty every time I saw those black bananas hanging out on my countertop after the grandkids went home.

This bread is the best - it has the nicest texture of any banana bread I’ve found (and I’ve tried several versions)  There is another version I’ll share with you tomorrow that is just as good, but not as stunningly pretty.

The delicious marbling of chocolate will stick to your slicing knife, so be prepared to wipe it down (or rinse it off) every few slices so it doesn’t tear the bread up.  

For the recipe, photos, and instructions - go to:

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