Pumpkin Pie Spiced Banana Bread, ver. 3.0

I changed the recipe again.  Less honey and more chocolate than version 2.0.  As a home cook, it is difficult for me to follow a recipe.  Home cooks take whatever is in the supermarket and cook whatever is in the refrigerator.  Cooking can be adapted.

Not baking.  It is really a bad habit of me, not to follow an entire recipe.  I've got to remember everything goes into a baking dish then goes into an oven.  There's no way to change it.  There is a reason why the measurements are written a certain way.

Dry Ingredients:

• 1¾ cups flour
• 1 tspn baking soda
• ½ tspn baking powder
• ½ tspn pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ tspn salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 5 bananas (ripe)
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup coconut oil
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 tspn vanilla extract

Extra Ingredient:  1 bar of chocolate, chopped.  I used Trader Joe's Organic Dark Chocolate Bar 73% Cacao, 3.51 oz (100g).

Note:  Pumpkin pie spice is not normal.  Normal people use cinnamon.  I don't like cinnamon that much.  Math Teacher bought pumpkin pie spice during Thanksgiving thinking we'd make pumpkin pie; that didn't happen.  So now I have a lot of pumpkin pie spice left.  Anyway, cinnamon is the first ingredient listed on the pumpkin pie spice label; so good enough for a novice baker like me.

Steps:

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Definitely do this step first.  Then I'll have clean measuring cups and spoons for the wet ingredients.
2. Smoosh the bananas in another large bowl.
3. Scramble the eggs into the smooshed bananas.
4. Add the rest of the wet ingredients into the banana-egg bowl.  Combine well.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Fold the mixture and make sure no flour lumps.
6. Add the chopped chocolate into the mixture.  Fold well.
7. Dump the mixture into a greased loaf pan.
8. Bake at 180℃ for 50 minutes.
9. Let the bread cool enough to handle, then transfer to a rack to cool off even more.

Banana Bread version 3.0 top view

Banana Bread version 3.0 side view

Banana Bread version 3.0 cut view

See the hole in the side-view photo?  Grease the loaf pan!  This was me not reading the recipe.  It was difficult to pull out so it broke apart.  Then because of that hole, it was difficult to maintain the integrity when I cut into the bread.  The loaf simply couldn't withstand it.

Version 3.0 was even spongier than version 2.0, which was spongier than version 1.0.  I don't know if it was the five bananas vs. four bananas before; or it was the chopped chocolate instead of chia seeds.  I like the spongier the better.

100 grams of chopped chocolate was enough.  The chocolate pieces were all throughout the bread.  Because I used so much chocolate this time, I thought I could decrease the amount of honey.  Math Teacher liked the large amount of chocolate but would prefer it sweeter as before.  So I guess I'm back to use more honey next time.

13 April 2023 Update:  the bread was days-old.  I was worried it wouldn't be as good.  So I cut them into pieces and toasted them for a few minutes.  Oh my gosh!  The chocolate melted a little bit, and the bread tasted like brownies.  This was so good!  😋