Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Baking can be healthy too! Indulge your sweet tooth with this revised chocolate chip banana bread recipe! By using applesauce in this recipe, instead of using all oil, you are keeping the bread moist, but cutting out a lot of the fat that a normal banana bread has.  No one will even know that this bread is healthy because it is just so, so good! 

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 very ripe bananas, mashed

¼ cup applesauce

¾ TBS vanilla extract

¾ TBS vegetable oil

1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

¾ cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup of pecans or walnuts, chopped (We prefer pecans!)

Topping:

1 TBS granulated sugar

1 ½ tsp brown sugar

½ tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking/baking spray.  Beat eggs and granulated sugar in a large bowl for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add in bananas, applesauce, vanilla, and vegetable oil and beat together.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Slowly add the flour mixture to the banana mixture, beating just until combined.  Fold in all of the chocolate chip morsels but only ¾ cup of the nuts of your choice.  Pour batter into the greased loaf pan until half full. (It will overflow if poured any further than half way.) Sprinkle on top of the batter, the ¼ cup of leftover nuts.  Stir sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a separate bowl and sprinkle over top of the nuts and batter.  This will create a delicious crust/streusel on top of the bread. Bake the loaf for an hour until golden brown and when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  So yummy!