Chocolate Covered Strawberry Banana Bread
August 14, 2017 by Nicole Collins
Happy half Valentine's Day!
Ok, so here's the thing. I've been sitting on today's recipe for a hot minute. It was totally an accident, but it totally looks super lovey dovey in the pics...like it would be perfect for Valentine's Day. And it's all chocolate covered strawberry and stuff, which just screams Valentine's Day.
I can be a pretty patient person (when I want to be), but there was no way I could keep this recipe in the vault for 6 more months.
So, I'm making up my own holiday. We can have half birthdays and Christmas in July. So, I'm just celebrating half Valentine's Day. Why not? Maybe I'll start a petition to make it a thing.
Not that we can only eat chocolate covered strawberries when romance is involved. That would be a shame. And, I totally could've sliced the strawberries in the opposite direction so they don't look like hearts; but like I said, it was a totally accident that this recipe came out looking like cupid baked it.
But let me tell you something, I am in love with this recipe. Regardless of what day of the year it is, you have to make this asap.
I'm not usually much of a fan of banana bread to be totally honest, but I had some overly ripe bananas that I needed to address. I have more than enough bananas chopped up in my freezer for smoothies, and I didn't want to toss them; so I started thinking of what else I could do with them. Enter strawberry cake mix that's been sitting on my pantry for who knows how long because I bought it on a sale.
I started thinking about how super ripe mashed bananas could be substituted in baking recipes, so why not substitute it in a cake mix. Mashed bananas can be substituted for eggs or for fat, and they contain a lot of moisture; so I played around with the measurements until the batter was at a consistency that I liked, and voila!
But strawberry banana bread wasn't quite special enough for me, so I kept digging in my pantry and found some mini chocolate chips. Why not throw them in the batter too?!? While I was in there, I found some semi sweet chocolate chunks, so figured I might as well throw a ganache on top while I was at it. Of course, there were some fresh strawberries in my fridge, so somehow this turned into a cleaning out the kitchen recipe for me. Those are the best kind! Necessity is the mother of invention. Isn't that what they say?
And even better, it's delicious! The bananas keep the bread nice and moist; the chocolate makes it rich and decadent; and the strawberries on top add a freshness that cuts through the sweet bread. It's so good!
I'll keep making banana bread if it tastes like this.
So, whether you're celebrating an anniversary, half Valentine's Day, brunch, or date night for one; you have to make sure this Chocolate Covered Strawberry Banana Bread is on the menu!
Make sure you show yourself some love today, and let's eat!
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Banana Bread
Serves: 8-10 slices Print
Ingredients:
For the Banana Bread:
1 ½ cups strawberry cake mix (from a boxed mix)
2 tbsp melted butter
3 very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
1 egg
¼ cup water
¼ cup mini chocolate chips
For the Ganache:
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
¼ cup heavy cream
3 strawberries, hulled and sliced
Directions:
Make the Banana Bread: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom and sides of a 9x5in loaf pan with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, butter, bananas, egg, and water. Stir with a spoon by hand until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter in to loaf pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread. Remove from pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the Ganache: Place chocolate chips in a small heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan over medium high heat, warm heavy cream until it just starts to bubble. Remove from heat. Pour cream over chocolate chips. Let sit for 1 minute. Whisk mixture until chocolate is fully combined, smooth, and creamy.
Pour ganache over top of cooled banana bread. Use a small offset spatula or butter knife to spread over surface, if necessary. Arrange sliced strawberries on top of chocolate. Allow chocolate to set completely (about 30 minutes) before cutting and serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
Recipe notes:
*Super duper ripe bananas are best for banana bread. We're talking just about black peels and mushy on the inside. That is when they're the sweetest! The bananas should be almost like an applesauce texture when you're done mashing them with a fork.
*Watch your heavy cream closely when you're warming it in the saucepan. As soon as you see bubbles, that's when we want to remove it from the heat.
*Place waxed paper, aluminum foil, or parchment paper under your cooling rack. That way, you can drizzle the chocolate over the bread while it's still on the rack, and it'll be easy clean up.
