About This Recipe
I am a chocoholic. I will devour anything and everything chocolate. Chocolate settles my soul. Pair this obsession with a childhood nostalgia, my mother’s banana bread, and the jar of sourdough discard staring me down from my refrigerator, and it only makes sense that this recipe would come. The moment I realized I had extra bananas lying around, I had to bake up something sweet and chocolate-y, with a touch of sourdough discard.
What Is Banana Bread?
If you are not familiar with banana bread, it is a type of sweet, baked quick bread made with overripe, mashed bananas. The bananas provide a natural moisture and sweetness to the bread, though sugar is still usually added to the batter. It is extremely popular in North America, but has become a classic and beloved baked good in many households across the world.
What I Love About This Recipe
This recipe is based off of my original banana bread recipe, which is unique due to the cream cheese base. Adding cream cheese to this batter is similar to using sour cream or yogurt in any quick bread recipe. It makes for an extremely smooth bread with a rich flavor that is able to retain moisture efficiently. I honestly do not know if I could ever not use cream cheese as a quick bread base after realizing just how it transforms the result. Pair this with the deep flavor of cocoa powder, and you have a match made in heaven.
All The “Why’s”
Cream Cheese
Most quick breads contain a base made with two sticks of softened butter. Others add yogurt or sour cream. While this can be good, in my opinion, cream cheese is better. Though this recipe still contains butter, which is necessary for moisture retention, cream cheese brings a unique richness, texture, and even more moisture to the final bake. The final, overall flavor and consistency is elevated significantly and the loaf does not dry out as quickly.
Brown Sugar
Brown sugar is used as a sweetener in this quick bread. This means you can increase or reduce the amount to your personal preference. The difference between brown sugar and white sugar is molasses. I chose brown sugar because I felt the deep flavors of the molasses compliment the chocolate well. In reality, you can use either (brown or white) and come out with great results.
Butter
While fat can have many purposes in a recipe, one major effect is moisture retention. Without it, the loaf would be dry and crumbly. Butter pairs well with the flavors of this dish, and serves just this purpose: to keep the loaf from drying out.
Sourdough Discard
The main purpose of sourdough discard is, well, to use sourdough discard. Unfortunately, the amount I use in this recipe is limited (if you know me, you know I like to use as much as possible in any given recipe), as banana bread gets most of its moisture from bananas (and eggs), leaving little room for the additional moisture from the sourdough discard.
Bananas
Bananas are the star of the show in banana bread; they add moisture, flavor, and sweetness. Ripe bananas are key; I like to use them when they are very dark. As bananas ripen, their starches are converted into sugars and moisture is released, which just means the older, the better. It also means that the time you use the banana in relation to its ripeness will effect the outcome of your bread, creating a wetter or dryer batter.
Eggs
The more eggs you add to your bread, the more cake-like the bread becomes. Eggs add fluff and moisture, as well as make your bread lighter and taller. I find two eggs to be the perfect balance: it is not too cake-like, but is also not too dense.
Flour + Cocoa Powder
These are the main dry ingredients used to bind and flavor the dough. While I do try to eliminate flour in some of my discard recipes, it is not possible with this one. Flour adds necessary structure to an otherwise loose batter. Cocoa powder also works with flour to structure the dough, but also adds a deep chocolate flavor. I like to have a lot of structure in my banana bread, so I use more flour compared to other recipes you can find on the internet. Even still, it is important to measure correctly by volume, or just use the weighted measurements instead. Flour is one of the most inaccurate ingredients measured by volume, and too much flour can cause a dry and crumbly loaf.
It is also important to note that all-purpose flour is superior to bread flour in any quick bread recipe. In fact, the lower the protein content, the better. Though I have not tested it, cake flour may even work wonders. The problem is: cake flour is not a staple ingredient in many homes; therefore, I choose not to base a recipe off of it unless it is absolutely necessary. The reason all-purpose flour is important is the same reason we mix this batter until “just incorporated” – gluten development is not desired. The development of gluten produces a chewy texture, which is not desirable in baked goods, such as banana bread. Banana bread is meant to be moist and tender, with a soft crumb that’s slightly dense but not heavy – meaning we need to eliminate gluten to achieve it.
Leavening
This recipe uses a balance of baking powder and baking soda to leaven the bread, rather than the sourdough discard. This means you can bake your bread right away, without waiting for sourdough to do its magic. I prefer chemical leavening for sourdough discard recipes because we are using starter that is not in its prime state, and may not leaven well. While it is true that the addition of flour feeds the yeast, and you may get a slow rise, sourdough-discard-leavened bread has the potential to be more sour, due to the ever populating bacteria (which are responsible for the sour flavor) and still may not rise properly. Not to mention how the other ingredients in this quick bread would hold up during this waiting period, namely the bananas.
If you want to try long fermentation, do it in the refrigerator and wait to add the baking powder and soda until you are ready to bake. While the yeast in your starter will not function well (due to the cold temperatures), the bacteria will still work to break down the flour during this time. Still adding the baking powder and soda ensures you get a loaf that has been appropriately aerated (since the yeast from your discard will not be able to adequately do this on their own).
Salt
Salt brings out flavor. I use just a touch in this recipe to enhance all the flavors in this quick bread.
Chocolate Chips And Drizzle
This is what makes it double chocolate! Feel free to play around with the inclusions if you have other ideas. For me, though, I’ll be sticking with my dark chocolate.
📌 Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.
Double Chocolate Banana Bread
Ingredients
Optional Ingredients
Instructions
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Preheat an oven to 350 F (175 C).
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Grease a bundt pan (or 9 X 5 loaf pan) and set aside. (You could also make this into muffins or mini loaves. See notes for baking modifications.)
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To a large bowl, add cream cheese, sugar, and butter. Mix until smooth and some air is incorporated.
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To the same bowl, add the sourdough discard, mashed bananas, and eggs. Mix, again, until everything is incorporated. Set aside.
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In a smaller bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
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Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir until almost completely incorporated.
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Work in chocolate chips. Mix until everything is just incorporated.
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Add all the batter to your baking pan(s). Smooth the top out nicely, so that everything bakes evenly.
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Bake in the preheated oven for about 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
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Cool 5-10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
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Enjoy!
Servings 12
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 438.52kcal
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 17.92g28%
- Saturated Fat 10.38g52%
- Trans Fat 0.25g
- Cholesterol 63.6mg22%
- Sodium 324.03mg14%
- Potassium 277.93mg8%
- Total Carbohydrate 65.49g22%
- Dietary Fiber 3.73g15%
- Sugars 35.81g
- Protein 7.83g16%
- Vitamin A 118.63 IU
- Vitamin C 2.61 mg
- Calcium 118.67 mg
- Iron 2.79 mg
- Vitamin D 0.16 IU
- Vitamin E 0.48 IU
- Vitamin K 1.43 mcg
- Thiamin 0.27 mg
- Riboflavin 0.27 mg
- Niacin 2.19 mg
- Vitamin B6 0.16 mg
- Folate 26.08 mcg
- Vitamin B12 0.12 mcg
- Phosphorus 172.98 mg
- Magnesium 45.35 mg
- Zinc 0.86 mg
* Nutrition values are auto-calculated and should be used as an approximation only.
Notes
- Storage: Store on the counter for three to five days, or slice and store in the freezer. No need to reheat, enjoy straight from the counter. From the freezer, allow to come to room temperature before serving.
- For mini loaves: Bake at 350 F (175 C) for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Makes four mini loaves.
- For muffins: Bake at 350 F (175 C) for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Makes about 24 muffins.
