Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread

You won't miss the sugar in this easy-to-make, naturally sweetened bread!

My 6-year-old tells me this tastes like a chocolate donut, and I absolutely agree. I don't know if you are familiar with Dunford Chocolate Donuts, but this bread is like that donut's attractive, more athletic cousin. So really, maybe this is better, because there is no guilt involved with this Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread, whereas the donut tends to leave me wishing I'd spent more time on the treadmill. 

I really wanted to create a treat that was less treat-ish. Something with which I could trick my family, and my sweet tooth. My banana bread recipe rules, as does my Healthy Coconut Banana Bread, so I decided to experiment. Dark chocolate cocoa powder is one of my favorite kitchen staples, and I had all this Quest protein powder, so I created some magic. The recipe below is the result of multiple test batches, and has been tasted by rigorous testers, and it has handled the pressure beautifully! Did I mention yet that this bread has no added refined sugar?

OK. Let me clarify before anyone freaks out. I added no white or brown sugar, or honey, or agave. None. I did  add semi-sweet chocolate chips. You can check the ingredients of your preferred brand to see what they use to sweeten their chips and choose accordingly. Also, I recognize that the yogurt I used, Dannon Oikos Triple Zero Vanilla Yogurt, has some sort of sweetener, and that the Quest Vanilla Protein Powder has a minimal amount of sweetener. All that said, most of the sweetness comes from the ripe bananas, and the miraculous thing is that the dark chocolate flavor from the cocoa and chocolate chips justifies the lack of sugar. You don't miss it. 

I know that many people, (well, I say many, but...) may read this and think, "I don't have all of these ingredients and I don't want to buy them." That's fine with me! Substitute all you want.  Use regular yogurt, or sour cream for the high-protein Greek stuff. Or, you could easily make this bread dairy-free by subbing coconut or soy yogurt for the Greek yogurt. Skip the protein power if you don't have it. You have my permission, not that you need it! 

I knew I would change all that stuff if my kitchen wasn't stocked that way. So, I also made a batch of Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread without the special ingredients, just cutting way back on sugar and using regular cocoa powder, regular yogurt, no protein powder. I even used milk chocolate chips. Amazingly, I couldn't really tell that the loaf with sugar was sweeter.  That's with adding 1/4 cup of sugar! What!?!

Amazingly, the dark chocolate "healthier" version was richer, moister, and better. My Stella likes it more, and so did my other guinea pigs. (Thanks BoTS friends!) Plus, I think it is prettier. See how dark it is? So intense. I love that color. And the fact that this bread tasted delicious made me do a dance. Several times. And I ate it for dinner the night I made it, which perhaps defeated the purpose of healthier chocolate banana bread, but there is over 40 grams of protein in one loaf! So I was like, "It's fine."

One final note: this bread doesn't taste super banana-ish. And if you use coconut oil, you'll get a hint of that too. Mostly, you'll just be tasting wonderful, wonderful chocolate. I'm excited for you to try this! Whenever you do, in no time you'll be left with this:

Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread

Recipe by Little Red Hen

Chocolaty, moist, delicious bread sweetened with bananas. No added sugars, easily non dairy, and packed with protein.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 60-90 minutes
Total time: Under 2 hours
Yield: 1 loaf
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
• 1 cup Greek vanilla yogurt, I used Oikos Triple Zero
• 2 cups flour (1 cup white, 1 cup wheat)
• 1 scoop Quest Vanilla Protein Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3-4 small bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a 9" loaf pan with non-stick spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix melted coconut oil with cocoa powder. Add dry ingredients and yogurt. Beat in eggs, mashed bananas, and milk. Fold in chocolate chips.
3. Bake for 60-90 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Bake the bread. Share the slices.