Healthy Banana Bread
- By Amy Dong
- Updated Apr. 22, 2024
This is not just another banana bread. This unique recipe is loaded with tons of ripe bananas and melty chocolate. It’s got a shot of healthy in it, with the addition of flax. Pure ricotta makes this banana bread exceptionally moist and dense. Perfect as a hearty breakfast treat with coffee or milk.
I pre-warned that I might be a tad bit emotional today.
I know I already did the slightly melodramatic mommy thing earlier this week when my 8 and 10 year olds rode off on the school bus to start their first day of school. I handed out these ultra enticing chewy cookies to make up for the drippiness.
In case you prefer savory treats, I forked this one over.
I wasn’t done. With the emo, I mean. Because this morning my Littlest Little put on his big backpack stuffed with his new blue lunchbox and went off to real school just like his big brothers.
All day. Every day. From now on. I’m totally entering a new season of life, and I haven’t decided if I’m a fan yet…
Clearly, I’m not great with big changes. It takes me awhile to adapt. Coffee and chocolate help, too.
It really helps me to accept change when I try to make good memories out of it. Most of my efforts involve food somehow, but that’s just how I roll. Cooking is love, love is cooking, or something like that.
So on my last day at home with The Littlest, we did what we love to do when it’s just the 2 of us. We baked.
He pulled the chair up to the countertop, stood high on it, and we made this Banana Ricotta Chocolate Bread.
I blended, he whisked, and we both ate. We have this rule that whoever helps to bake gets to taste during the process. Chocolate chips need tasters.
This version is based off my time-tested, fail-proof banana yogurt bread recipe, with a few tasty twists. We swapped the yogurt out for ricotta, mainly because I have a tub of ricotta that I’m trying to use up. We amped up the banana a bit. We threw in flax, for a dose of healthy Omega-3.
And of course, the mini chocolate chips. I’m a huge fan of the minis because they get nice and melty in the bread, making it uber chocolatey.
This recipe makes a generous sized loaf. It’s great for my hungry boys to nosh on for breakfast with a tall glass of milk.
I had plenty to share with girlfriends to boot. ‘Cept we drank coffee, not milk.
Speaking of which, here’s a sisterly shout out to the beautiful ladies who commiserated with me over a long lunch today!
Of course, it involved cooking. ‘Cause cooking = love, you know.
And this pin-popular image says it all:
Here’s to the seasons of life and true friends to share them with.
And let’s not forget the chocolate.
Did you make this?
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Healthy Banana Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup softened butter, room temp
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour, or white whole wheat flour
- 3 tsp dry flax meal
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp table salt
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- 1 ¼ cup bananas, over-ripe, mashed
- ¾ cup mini semisweet or dark chocolate chips, minis melt into the bread better
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F with rack on lower middle position. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and set aside.
- In large bowl of stand mixer, mix the softened butter and sugar until fluffy and light, several minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix to incorporate. Add the ricotta and mashed bananas, mixing until well combined.
- In separate bowl, combine flour, flax, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add butter/egg mixture to the dry ingredients, using a rubber spatula to fold gently just until most of the mixture is combined. A few small streaks of flour remaining is ideal. Gently fold in the mini chocolate chips.
- Spread batter evenly into greased loaf pan. Bake about 65-70 minutes, or until toothpick comes out almost clean. Cool loaf in pan 20 minutes, run a thin knife around edges, and transfer to wire rack to finish cooling. Cool completely before slicing.
- *Makes either 1 large loaf or 2 smaller loaves. If doing 2 smaller loaves, lessen bake time.
Nutrition (per serving)
Source: Chew Out Loud
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