Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt - I Like Big Bundts 2013 - Day 6

Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt

I Like Big Bundts 2013, Day 6

Hello! It's Day 6 of I Like Big Bundts 2013...my little effort to remind you of the greatest food holiday around: National Bundt Day on November 15th! Oh, crazy food holidays and the crazy people who celebrate them (me!). I'm a huge fan of the Bundt cake and have been making lots of bundts over the years. This year, I'm doing 15 days of Bundts leading up to National Bundt Day and I hope you grab your Bundt pan and bake along!

Today's recipe is a slight twist on a classic. Along with hundreds of other delightful food bloggers, I baked my way through Dorie Greenspan's incredible book, Baking: From My Home to Yours in an online group called Tuesdays with Dorie. My pick for the group was Dorie's Classic Banana Bundt Cake. It got great reviews from everyone and I make it all the time.

This year, I thought I would bring it back and add some chocolate chips to it! Oh, I thought I was so clever. However, this morning, as I'm writing this post at 4:30 am, I realize that I already made this in 2011!! After making over 100 bundts, I guess I forgot I was already clever in 2011 and not so clever in 2013. But that doesn't stop this cake from being AWESOME.

Banana. Chocolate. Together. Forever.

This cake has everything good and delicious. Ripe, ripe bananas, butter, sour cream (or yogurt if you wish) and chocolate chips. It fills the Bundt pan so be sure to use the 12-cup classic Bundt.

You can eat this plain or with a sprinkling of powdered sugar. If you are crazy for chocolate, you can drizzle some chocolate ganache on top.

I just love this recipe! Dorie Greenspan is a genius. Whenever I made a Dorie recipe, I feel old and nostalgic for Tuesdays with Dorie. The group, started by Laurie Woodward, happened just at the start of the food blogging explosion and we were a small but tight community - before search engine optimization, advertising, conferences and branding were commonplace. We just wanted to learn or improve our baking and share what we made with each other. I owe so much to Dorie - I made friends (some that I've met in real life), developed my baking skills, and had a great time.

If you don't have several of Dorie Greenspan's books on your bookshelf, tell Santa. Everything she writes is delicious and you should make everything...including this Banana Bundt!

See you tomorrow for another Bundt! - mary the food librarian

P.S. Remember, if you bake on National Bundt Day, I'm doing a round up on my blog. I'll post photo and link submission info on Friday! (You don't have to have a blog to enter.)

I Like Big Bundts 2013 (so far)
Day 5: Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt
Day 4: Moosewood's Fresh Apple Spice Bundt Cake
Day 3: Butterscotch Bundt Cake
Day 2: Ultimate Lemon Pound Cake Bundt
Day 1: Orange Marmalade Jubilee Bundt

Recipe: Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt
Adapted from Classic Banana Bundt Cake
Page 190, Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan
Find it in your library or buy it on Amazon!

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
About 4 very ripe bananas, mashed (you should have 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups)
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 cup semi-sweet pr bittersweet chocolate chips

Oven: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pan: 12-cup Bundt pan. Spray with Pam with Flour or Baker's Joy, or butter and flour pan generously.

1. Dry ingredients: Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together.

2. Cream: Working with a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat at medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, then add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the bananas.

3. Combine dry & wet: On low speed, add 1/2 the dry ingredients, then all the sour cream, followed by the rest of the flour. Don't worry if the batter curdles. Fold in the chocolate chips.

4. Bundt Pan: Pour into prepared bundt pan. Rap pan on the counter to debubble and smooth the top.

5. Bake: Place pan in the oven (never put a Bundt pan on a tray - air needs to circulate through the hole in the center of the Bundt pan). Bake until a skewer inserted comes out clean or with just a few crumbs, about 65 to 75 minutes. Check the cake after about 30 minutes - if it is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a foil tent. Remove and let cool on rack for 10 minutes before inverting onto rack. Cool to room temp.

6. Dorie says "If you've got the time, wrap the cooled cake in plastic and allow it to sit on the counter overnight before serving - it's better the next day."

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Banana Muffins with Oatmeal Streusel Topping

Banana Muffins with Oatmeal Streusel Topping

You know the sad bananas you have on the counter? I have a home for them!

These muffin have 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas so it is very banana-y. The muffins don't have any dairy, but the topping has a little butter (you can sub margarine if you want to make it dairy free).

I used about 3 1/2 medium bananas, and mashed them with a fork to yield 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas. It's easy to make with a simple combination of wet and dry ingredients. The brown sugar gets incorporate in the wet ingredients so it can dissolve a bit with the egg and oil.

These are good both warm from the oven and later in the morning.

It's a portable banana bread!!

With a topping that includes oats, put this in the "you can convince yourself it's kinda healthy" category! :)

Recipe:
Banana Muffins with Oatmeal Streusel Topping

Topping:
1/2 cup (50 grams) light or brown sugar
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
2 Tablespoons (18 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter

Batter - Dry ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Batter - Wet ingredients:
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3-4 bananas)
3/4 cup (150 grams) light or dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup canola oil

1. Prepare 12 muffin tins with paper liners or with butter/flour.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Mix all the ingredients together (except butter) in a small bowl. Add the butter and use your fingers to make small crumb. Set aside.
4. Mix the dry ingredients of the muffins together in a large bowl.
5. Mix together the wet ingredients with a fork or whisk until combined.
6. Mix the wet batter with the dry ingredients quickly and with a few strokes. Don't overmix.
7. Scoop batter into muffin tin. Fill 3/4 full. Spread topping on each muffin.
8. Bake in middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes (depending on your oven - mine took 23 minutes) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Let the muffins sit for 5 minutes and then carefully remove to wire rack to fully cool...or eat them a little warm!

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Banana Chocolate Chunk Walnut Loaf - Dahlia Bakery Cookbook

Banana Chocolate Chunk Walnut Loaf - Dahlia Bakery Cookbook

During a time of incomprehensibly tragic news (Boston Marathon, Texas refinery explosion...), I find that baking provides a small sense of relief. Creating comfort food for you and your friends.

I made a couple things last week (will post them soon), but I think Banana Bread defines comfort food. I made this last Sunday, and enjoyed it at a meeting on Monday morning.

My loaf didn't come out very tall...the loaf pan was wider than the instructions. However, it was still yummy.

Chocolate chunks or chips and walnuts give the loaf texture and sweetness. And I believe that bread with "good fat" nuts and fruits in them push them into a good breakfast food category. :)

Have you been to Dahlia Bakery in Seattle? I haven't but can't wait to visit. The cookbook is beautiful.

Last week was also National Library Week. For the past few years, I've celebrated on the blog with a week of posts and giveaways. But last week just didn't feel right. I do hope that you visit your library soon, and celebrate all things library...and librarian!

Banana Chocolate Chunk Walnut Loaf
Adapted from: The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook: Sweetness in Seattle*
Find it in your library with WorldCat

1/2 c (2 3/4 ounces / 79 grams) bittersweet chocolate chunks (I used dark chocolate chips)
1/3 c (1 1/4 ounces / 35 grams) walnuts, toasted, cooled and roughly chopped
1 1/4 c (6 3/8 ounces / 180 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t kosher salt
About 1 pound of very ripe bananas (2-3)
1/4 c canola oil
1/2 c (3 1/2 ounces / 100 grams) sugar
1 large egg
1/4 c (2 ounces / 58 grams) sour cream

Preheat oven to 350. Prep a loaf pan (they recommend 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches) with butter & flour, or spray with non-stick spray. I line my pan with parchment paper to make it easier to remove from the pan.

Mix chocolate chunks and walnuts in a small bowl. Add 2 Tablespoons flour and toss to coat. Set aside.

Sift together the remaining flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl or some parchment paper.

Peel the bananas, cut into chunks and place them into the bowl of an electric mixer. On low speed, beat the bananas to a smooth puree until no large lumps remain. Measure the puree - you should have 1 cup (discard or add as necessary) On low speed, add the oil, sugar, egg and sour cream. Mix until everything is combined and the banana is well incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.  Fold in reserved chocolate-walnut mixture. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake until skewer inserted into the loaf comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging but no batter, 65-70 minutes (if you use a different size pan, start checking early). For the best rise, do not open the oven door  while the banana bread is baking. The loaf will be dark golden brown and there will probably be a crack running through the top. Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Unmold the banana bread, then cool on a wire rack to slightly warm or room temperature before slicing and serving.

 * I'm part of Amazon Affiliates and get a small % if you purchase from this link.

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Banana Streusel Snack Cake

Banana Streusel Snack Cake

Costco sells a bag o' bananas for less than $2. You can't pass that up! But then you have to eat the bunch o' bananas and... you always find a few that never make it into the lunch bag. I freeze a few for smoothies, but love to make banana breads too.

This one, from wonderful cookbook author Flo Braker, is moist and the streusel topping takes it over the top. When I ate it warm, the flavors weren't settled yet, but it got better as it cooled and it was tasty the next day. Flo says it keeps and freezes well too.

The cake is really simple to make. Bananas, butter, and a streusel topping. Yummmmy!


I made this when friends Jun, David (remember the wedding dessert buffet?) and baby Sage came by for a visit. OMG. So cute!! Sage has these long curls in his hair and the most adorable pre-sumo wrestler arms. He had his first bit of cake too...Banana Streusel Snack Cake!

Banana Streusel Snack Cake
From Flo Braker's "Baking for All Occasions" (page 157)

Streusel
6 tablespoons (1 3/4 ounces/50 grams) all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons (2 3/4 ounces/75 grams) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (I ran out of cinnamon (how did I run out of cinnamon?) and use 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger instead)

Cake
2 cups (8 ounces/225 grams) unsifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup ripe mashed banana (2 large or 3 medium) (I used 3 medium bananas)
3 tablespoons whole milk (I used almond milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces (1 stick/115 grams/1/2 cup) butter, room temperature
1 cup (7 ounces/200 grams) sugar
1 large egg

Prep: Prep a 9 x 5 loaf pan or 8 x 8 square pan by butter and flouring it, or spraying it with Pam with Flour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the streusel: Using your fingertips, mix together the flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon until lumpy; set aside.

For the batter: Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, and salt onto a sheet of parchment or wax paper (save the paper to help you invert the cake onto a rack later). Mash bananas in a medium bowl, then add the milk and vanilla extract.

Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg until completely incorporated. Add the banana mixture (it will look curdled, that's OK). With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes (9 x 3 loaf pan) or 35 minutes (8 x 8 pan), until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes. Carefully invert onto a rack covered with parchment. Place another rack on top and invert again so the streusel is on top. Let cool.

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Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins - Nosh with Me recipe

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Last night, I opened the refrig and saw two very sad bananas. I tweeted...Anyone have a Banana muffin recipe? Luckily, friends Hilary and JustJenn came to the rescue. I'm going to make JustJenn's recipe next time (looks very yummy - love crumb toppings!), and whipped up a batch of Hilary's mom's recipe this morning.

Banana and Chocolate are best friends, no? I love chocolate covered frozen bananas...oh, I'll to get one of those this summer!

I think this is a first! I woke up, make the muffins, photographed it, blogged, and am now heading to work. AND it is 6:00 am! Yes, I'll be going to bed early tonight! :)

Recipe:
Go to Hilary's Blog, "Nosh with Me" for the recipe. You can make a loaf of bread or muffins.
Notes: I used 1 stick of butter (not shortening), added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and placed a couple chocolate chips on the muffins. I baked mine at 350 degrees convection oven for about 30 minutes.
Recipe: Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

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Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt - Day #8 of Food Librarian's I Like Big Bundts 3

Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt

I Like Big Bundts - Day #8

We all have great intentions. Like exercising everyday. Putting away the dishes as soon as they're dry. Making your bed. And eating all the bananas you bought.

This cake may not help with the exercise bit, but it will take care of those bananas!

Whoo hoo! We are on Day #8 of my marathon bundt making adventure because I Like Big Bundts! November 15th is National Bundt Day and I hope you make a bundt to celebrate!

This bundt is based on Dorie Greenspan's awesome Banana Bundt in her book, Baking: From my Home to Yours. That was my pick for Tuesdays with Dorie and it was well loved by the bakers! I promise you'll love it. I added one cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the recipe for an even more delicious treat.

This bundt can be eaten plain or with just a touch of powdered sugar. With bananas, sour cream and butter or yogurt? It is so moist!

Happy Monday! If you have some bananas sitting around, be sure to make this deliciousness.

Recap of I Like Big Bundts 3:
Day #1: Buttercake Bakery's Marble Bundt Cake
Day #2: Lemon Bliss Bundt
Day #3: Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze
Day #4: Spice Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Glaze
Day #5: Gingery Pumpkin Breakfast Bundt
Day #6: Maida Heatter's Budapest Coffee Cake Bundt
Day #7: Dark Chocolate Bundt

Recipe: Click here for printable recipe

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours (page 190) (Find it in your library here or on Amazon - really, everyone should have this book and it makes a great holiday gift!)

Bundt Pan: Traditional 12-cup Bundt Pan

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Tropical Un-Crumble - Tuesdays with Dorie

Tropical Crumble

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Gaye of Laws of the Kitchen chose Tropical Crumble on pages 418-419 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.


This should have been a full size dessert with a baked crumble on top... but I was making this for one and I just came back from a pilates class. I just started taking pilates and find it interesting...I'm finding muscles that I didn't know I had. :) Anyway, I'm enjoying the class and decided to make a quick and lighter version of Dorie's Tropical Crumble.

For my one person serving inspired by Dorie's recipe, I cut one medium banana and half a mango. Some butter and brown sugar are heated and the fruit is gently browned. At the end, I tossed in some chopped pecans.

This was a perfect little dessert for watching The Closer and resting some sore muscles! :)

Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers and see their creations - how it is supposed to be made!

Recipe:
Gaye of Laws of the Kitchen blog,
or, Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours (page 418)

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Vegan Chocolate Banana Muffins

Vegan Chocolate Banana Muffins

I woke up Saturday and wanted to bake something for the library (yeah, most days are like this). Working on Saturdays isn't always the most fun...especially when it's 85 degrees outside and the A/C in the library is broken.

However, I opened the refrig and realized I was out of eggs. What?! Out of eggs? What kind of baker am I? Anyway, I didn't find any eggs, but I did find some old bananas.


So, I searched for a vegan recipe and found Love and Olive Oil's Chocolate Banana Cupcakes. Her recipe has a frosting, but I skipped that so I'm calling them muffins.


The recipe includes coconut milk, banana, cocoa powder and a bit of cinnamon. I doubled the amount of cinnamon because I love it.

Quick and easy to make...the resulting muffin is moist. If you are vegan or don't find any eggs in your refrig, give these a try!


Recipe:
Love and Olive Oil's Chocolate Banana Cupcakes
Notes:
1. I used 1/4 t cinnamon instead of 1/8.
2. I did not make the frosting.
3. I used Callebaut Dutch processed cocoa powder.
4. I overfilled my muffin tins and got 10 muffins. Baked for 24 minutes. Next time, I will definitely shoot for 12 muffins!

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Devilish Shortcakes with Caramelized Bananas - Tuesdays with Dorie

Devilish Shortcakes with Caramelized Bananas 

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Tania of Love Big, Bake Often chose the Devilish Shortcakes on page 425 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. 

You know I'm all about the mini. They are cute. They are small. And they are all about portion control. Unless you eat 5 of them. Well, let's just focus on the positive.

I scooped these out with a cookie scoop and baked them from 10 minutes. A bit of sanding sugar topped the biscuit before baking...because life is just better with sanding sugar.

During this time of year, our selection of berries was pretty sad. I had to work last Saturday and couldn't visit the farmers market so I knew I needed a different fruit. What else goes with chocolate? Of course, bananas!

I caramelized the bananas. A dollop of whipped cream would be nice...but I was all out.

Today is Tuesday. Guess what NEXT Tuesday is?! Hellz yes! My 40th Birthday! You know I've been building up to this for the last six months or so...and I can't believe it is almost here! Whoo hoo. My friend and I are going to take a 3-day Mexican cruise for our birthdays (Helen's birthday is Dec 4th and mine is Dec 7th). (Note to bad people: Our homes, cars, identity & credit scores are all protected and under guard while we are gone!)

Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers and see their creations!

Recipe:
Tania of Love Big, Bake Often
Page 425 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours

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Banana Nutella Bundt - Day #10 of I Like Big Bundts 2010

Banana Nutella Bundt

Nutella.
Banana.
In a Bundt.

Yeah, I think it is pretty awesome too. (Except for JustJenn who is strange and hates bananas!)

 

I had three really ripe bananas on the counter and I knew they weren't going on my cereal in the morning. Last year, I made a Banana Chocolate Bundt and a Nutella Bundt. I was inspired by both of those to make this Banana Nutella Bundt!

I'm on a quest to post 30 bundts in 30 days leading up to November 15th - National Bundt Day! I hope you'll make your family and friends a Bundt cake to celebrate!

My friend JustJenn has a line of stationery and pins to celebrate the love of Big Bundts!

You make the banana batter. Then you pull out 1 cup of the batter and fold in some Nutella. Then you marble with a butter knife.

Right now I'm at a conference in Monterey, CA and it finally stopped raining. Just in time for the conference to start and for me to sit in a room all day. Timing is everything, no? Because I don't WiFi in the room (sorry, not paying $13 a day for that privilege) nor an OVEN, I found myself at the hotel's gym before 6 am this morning! Perhaps if I lived in a hotel, I'd be in good shape. :)

This was really tasty. I love banana bread so it was a nice banana bread with some nutella. Can't go wrong with that, huh? See you back here tomorrow for another Bundt cake! - mary the food librarian

Recipe:
I was inspired by this Cooking Light recipe for a Marbled-Chocolate Banana Bread...but changed it up with Nutella and made it more fatty than Cooking Light's original...hum, sorta a Cooking Heavy with the Food Librarian version.

Banana Nutella Bundt

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (I used 3 medium bananas)
2 eggs
1/3 c plain yogurt (I used non-fat Greek yogurt)
1/2 c Nutella

1. Heat over to 350°. Prep a 10-cup Bundt pan (I used my 10-cup Fiesta Bundt).
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir with a whisk to combine.
3. Scoop Nutella into a medium bowl. Mix with a spoon to soften, but do not heat.
4. Cream butter and sugar at medium speed with the paddle attachment.
5. Lightly beat the eggs and slowly add to the batter.
6. Add banana and yogurt. Beat until well blended.
7. At low speed, add the flour mixture until just combined.
8. Scoop out 1 cup of the batter and fold into Nutella.
9. Spoon plain batter into Bundt pan. Top with Nutella mixture.
10. Swirl batters together with a knife.
11. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 50 minutes, depending on your oven.
12. Cool for 15 minutes and then invert from pan onto wire rack. Cool completely.
13. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top of cooled cake.

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Lot's of Ways Banana Cake - Tuesdays with Dorie

Lot's of Ways Banana Cake

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Kimberly of Only Creative Opportunities decided on Lot’s of Ways Banana Cake on page 204 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

You can make this recipe 10 different ways for a yummy turnout. You can use different liquids (coconut milk, buttermilk, milk, etc.) and a boatload of add-ins. Dorie suggests coconut and dried fruit. You can stack and frost the cake, our serve it in a single layer as a tea cake. So many variables you make this 100 times and get 100 unique cakes! That Dorie, always so clever.

I made 1/2 the recipe which resulted in a single layer 9" cake. Of course, I skipped all pieces of coconut. Please, no dental floss in my cake. Instead, I added 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips to my 1/2 recipe, and I used buttermilk as my liquid.

My single cake only took 40 minutes to bake (recipe says 45-50 so check early).

This was a lovely tea cake. Just what you need to accompany a nice cup of coffee or tea.

Thanks, Kimberly for a great pick!

Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers!

Recipe:
Kimberly of Only Creative Opportunities blog, or
Page 204 Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

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