Secretly Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread

I know, it looks like a one million calorie, dark, rich, fudgey, brownie-ish, delight. Guess what? Tastes like it too. But no, this guy is the most innocent loaf of banana bread in the world right here. No butter or oil, very little add sugar, and loaded with fruit!

Samuel tasted it and nodded approval.

"It's healthy," I said.

"No, it's not."

"Yes, yes. It is."

"Isn't there sugar in it?"



"There's hardly any. It's mostly sweetened from the bananas."

"Ok, what about oil and butter?"

"None."

"Cocoa is unhealthy."

"Nope. It's not."

"Wow, unbelievable," he muttered, as he he proceeded to consume the remaining loaf in one bite.

Ok, so the chocolate chips aren't healthy. Sue me. A pregnant lady's got to have her chocolate chips.

Anyway, I stupidly forgot to write down what I was doing as I made this recipe. I knew I had pretty much just used this muffin recipe I made in 2013, but I wasn't sure if I had doubled it or how long I baked it. I was sitting here all ready to post this this morning and finally I said, "I don't know! I don't know what I did! I'll just have to make it again!" so I stomped into the kitchen and whipped up another batch in a few moments and made sure I was paying attention to what I was doing this time.

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• Secretly Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread
• Makes two 8 inch loaves or one 10 inch loaf
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• 2 large eggs (can use flax eggs)
• 1/2 cup sweetener of your choice (I used brown sugar, but have also tried it with maple syrup or honey!)
• 2/3 cup applesauce (I used unsweetened)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups mashed very ripe brown bananas (about 6 bananas)
• 2 cups flour (I used an all-purpose gluten free mix, but you could also use all-purpose flour or try using some whole wheat!)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
• 1 cup chocolate chips 
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 10 inch bread pan or two 8 inch bread pans. Whisk together the egg, sugar, applesauce, vanilla, and bananas. Mix the dry ingredients and add to the wet. Mix just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips (you can also save some to sprinkle on the top before you bake!). Bake 45 minutes for two 8-inch loaves or 1 hour for one 10-inch loaf (cook until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached, or even a little gooier if you want it to be more like a gooey brownie!). 
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