If there's such a place as heaven on earth, I'm pretty sure Soma Chocolatiers in Toronto's Distillery District qualifies (as long as you're a chocoholic, that is).
How else would you describe a store that actually makes its own chocolate from scratch, and then uses it in delectable confections like olive oil truffles or milk-chocolate coated corn nuts?
Plus in the winter there's hot chocolate to warm you up, and in the summer there's gelato to cool you down. It's sheer bliss, I tell you.
Whenever I visit, I have to fight the temptation to dump the entire contents of my wallet on the counter and ask them to give me as many truffles as can be bought with my pile of money (as disappointingly teensy it might be)... though, I pretty much do that already as it is, minus the dramatic wallet-dumping gesture.
On my last trip there, I decided to bring home a jar of their Dutch Process Cocoa on top of my usual chocolate-coated loot.
Sure, it cost almost twice as much as a regular jar of cocoa powder, but holy cocoa beans, does it ever pack a wallop! Just a quarter of a cup was enough to make a loaf of banana bread chocolatey enough to satisfy even Montezuma himself.
Of course, you can still make this recipe with a less fancy-dancy brand of cocoa powder if that's all you've got. After all, not all of us are lucky enough to live just 30 minutes away from heaven on earth. :)
FYI... if chocolate ain't your thing, I do also have a recipe for Chai Banana Bread that's rather divine, despite its lack of chocolate. In fact, I'm half tempted to try making marble banana bread using half chai and half chocolate... hmmmmmmmm...
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Chocolate Banana Bread
- Yield: 10 1x
Description
This tender loaf combines all the best qualities of moist banana bread and rich chocolate cake in every bite. Make sure to use a good quality brand of cocoa powder for maximum chocolatey-ness.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup mashed bananas (around 2-3 medium bananas)
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup good-quality cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly butter a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
- In a medium bowl, beat together sugar and butter until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Add the mashed bananas, sour cream and vanilla extract, and stir until smooth and creamy-looking.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until just barely combined. Fold in chocolate chips, if using.
- Bake in preheated oven for about 50-60 minutes. Bread is done when the top is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before unmolding and slicing.
Shelly M says
Has anyone made the recipe gluten free yet? Wondering if I need to alter anything...???? Thank you in advance.
Meagan says
Wow. Looks fantastic. I will edit to make gluten free and grain free.
Shelly M says
Meagan, what did you do different besides grain free flour anything else?
Anonymous says
sounds great.
Anonymous says
I tried the recipe, and it was AMAZING!!!
I can't stop eating them, and they are for company...
Anna Olsson says
I'm on this site "Stumble upon" and just happened to come to your site and read this entry.
I lived in Toronto for a few months in 2008 and I went to this place on a date one time and it was the best day ever for me. This brings back so many memories to me =)
Hope you have a nice day and thank you for making my day!
Anonymous says
Every thing looks delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gabygirrrlll says
oh, my, gosh. i couldn't resist--had to make it! but, i am allergic to sour cream. i used plain yogurt instead!
dykegoesdomestic says
1. this looks too good to be true. 2. i would LOVE to be as proficient at both cooking and blogging as you seem to be, but alas...neither is true. but i'm working on it, starting with cupcakes from scratch for New Years.
thanks for sharing and inspiring!
Anonymous says
Would be awesome with some chopped pecans added.
Polka_Roo says
Shannon, I'm glad to hear the applesauce trick worked out!
Dana, I think you could probably try scaling back to 1/2 cup sugar if you found it too sweet this time. The ripeness of the bananas tends to affect how sweet the bread comes out, too... I tend to use them while they're yellow with black spots because I can never wait long enough, but if you use them once they're totally black, they'll definitely be way sweeter.
Dana M says
Too sweet for my taste!
shannon says
UPDATE: I made this and I used 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup butter (instead of 1/2 cup butter) and I somehow forgot the vanilla and the eggs...However it still turned out divine...Thanks for posting this recipe :)
Shannon says
OK...this is evil I tell you, evil.........I love banana bread, but Chai and chocolate...I am going to try both out, have a lot of bananas to use up that I froze for banana breads/smoothies. Have you tried making this with half butter and half applesauce?
Von says
Yum....I've never thought of this chocolate and bannana combination before! The bread looks so moist!
Peggy says
this looks quite yummy!
Dolly says
That is one delectable Banana Chocolate Bread. First time here but love your blog with all these awesome recipes.Will visit you more often.
Dolly @ https://curryandbeyond.blogspot.com
kate says
I just can't stand the fact that I found this recipe. It will haunt me, calling to me from the depths of my computer until I nearly break in two from the insanity and MAKE IT! Then I will regret it because it will cause me no end of delight and I will have to MAKE IT AGAIN.
*sigh* Some things just can't be helped.
Mrs Ergül says
That jar of Dutch-processed cocoa powder must be packing some kick in it! Look at how chocolaty the cake is!! I love it!
Kitchen Butterfly says
Isabelle...wow. Amazing job judging. Your descriptions were spot on and for the first time in a while, I shut up about buiding a defense - waning light of day, learning how to take nice photos in twilight. When I grow up and the kids are out of diapers...I will get that DSLR. BTW,I am a banana bread fan - majorly...but with chocolate, I can imagine the smell-o-vision that was needed. Well done and thanks again
Polka_Roo says
Thanks for all the lovely feedback, everyone.
Joy, I can't believe you take those amazing photos with a little point-and-shoot! That's amazing! If you haven't tried it before, see if your camera has macro or portrait mode and play around with that... I used to get pretty decent bokeh out of my little Olympus p&s using that trick before I upgraded to SLR last year.
Vegetable Matter, it's definitely a very moist and dense cake. The best part is that the bananas and the sour cream both add lots of moisture without adding much fat (especially if you go with a reduced fat sour cream). It's not health food, but it's better than cake. :)
Packola, I used a fancy-shmancy cocoa that Soma makes in-house. You can go ahead and use any kind of good-quality Dutch process cocoa, though, since travelling to Toronto for a jar of cocoa might be a little bit much. :) Even a national brand like Fry's is fine.
5 Star Foodie says
This bread looks and sounds so heavenly!
Pakcola says
Wow, it looks SO good, what brand of cocoa powder do you recommend?
Thanks!
Rose says
I <3 chocolate and I <3 banana bread and I usually put chocolate chips in the bread, but THIS looks lovely!
Vegetable Matter says
When I make chocolate pound cake or loaf cake, it is often too dry. The bananas are such a genius addition -- your cake looks dense and moist, and what a great flavor combo. Well done!
Joy says
Isabelle thank you so much for your kind words and helpful advice -- I definitely struggle with bokeh because I dont have an SLR and struggle with choosing what to put in and out of focus, but I am saving up my pennies so I can stop with the weird photoshop blurs haha. Anyways, it is nice to meet you and i've always enjoyed your pictures and this chocolate banana bread looks amazing, I've only had plain banana bread but the combo of chocolate and banana sounds awesome!
Miranda says
WOw. The only thing that could make banana bread any better is chocolate. This is a fantastic recipe. I can't wait to give it a try!