Banana Bread

Banana Bread

Honestly, this banana bread is one of those recipes we find ourselves coming back to again and again. There's something about the combination of dark chocolate chunks and toasted pecans running through that soft, dense loaf that just feels properly indulgent without any of the faff. We love making this on a slow weekend morning and letting it bake while we have a coffee, because by the time it comes out the whole kitchen smells incredible. It's got that perfect balance of sweet, rich, and slightly bitter from the chocolate, and the texture is just spot on. Trust us, once you've made this version you won't go back to a plain one.

Cook: 75 min
Serves 6

Before You Start

  • Preheat oven to 180°C
  • 900g loaf tin greased & lined with baking paper
  • Food processor

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 250g plain flour
  • 75g light brown sugar
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 1 ½ tbsp cocoa powder
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • ½ tsp sea salt optional
  • 110g plant-based butter
  • ½ tsp allspice
  • 3 ripe bananas
  • 60ml almond milk
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 60g dark chocolate
  • 50g pecans

Method

1

Make the batter

  • Pour all the ingredients except the dark chocolate and pecans into the food processor and whizz them to a thick mixture 
  • Take out the blade and scrape any excess mixture back into the bowl
2

Mix through the chocolate and pecans

  • Break the dark chocolate and pecans into small pieces and tip them into the bowl 
  • Mix everything together
3

Bake the banana bread

  • Pour the mixture into the lined loaf tin and put it in the oven 
  • Bake for 60–65 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean 
  • Take the tin out of the oven and leave the bread to cool to room temperature 
  • Remove the bread from the tin and cut it into slices to serve

Tips & Variations

  • Use the ripest bananas you can find: We always stash overripe bananas in the freezer when we can't use them in time. Just defrost them before you start and they work perfectly, sometimes even better than fresh.
  • Swap the pecans: Henry sometimes uses walnuts instead if that's what's in the cupboard, and they work brilliantly. Almonds or hazelnuts would be great too if you fancy mixing it up.
  • Go bigger on the chocolate: We won't judge you if you add an extra square or two of dark chocolate. A higher cocoa percentage, around 70% or above, really makes the flavour sing against the sweet banana.

Why This Works

The trick here is using really ripe bananas, and we mean properly brown and spotty ones. The riper they are, the sweeter and more intensely banana-flavoured your loaf will be, which means you don't need loads of added sugar to get that gorgeous depth. Using the food processor also makes the batter super smooth and consistent, which gives you that lovely even crumb every single time.