Banana-Chocolate-Walnut Bread

Let's sweeten up our Saturday, shall we? Last week for work, we attempted the Banana-Chocolate-Walnut Bread (Cooking Light, Oct 2010) for a coworker's birthday. Chocolate, bananas, more chocolate - it seemed like a recipe for success.

The bread was straightforward to put together and required mostly the kinds of staples we tend to keep around our kitchen. (What, you don't keep a bag of chocolate chips on hand at all times?) We popped it in the oven and sat down to relax while it baked the requisite 55 minutes.

It came out of the oven smelling a bit burned, which puzzled us. Generally, our oven temperature runs a little low, so we have to cook things a minute or two longer than stated by the recipe. When we went to pop the chocolate and milk topping mixture into the microwave, we realized why: the 5 tablespoons of melted butter that were supposed to go in the batter were still sitting in the microwave.

Heartbroken, we sliced off an end of the bread and gave it a taste...and, much to our surprise, it wasn't bad at all! Most likely, it was the addition of plain yogurt to the dough plus the bananas themselves that kept things moist and bound despite the lack of fat from the butter. Once we decided that this could still be served to coworkers without destroying our baking reputation, we went ahead with assembling the topping.

Perhaps it was the type of chocolate we used (Nestle semisweet mini chips) or the fat-free milk, but the topping wasn't nearly as thick as shown in the recipe image. But that - and our own inattention to detail! - was our only difficulty with this recipe. All in all, it receives our recommendation for a tasty, anytime treat.