Choco-Cherry Banana Nut Bread

Sent in by Black Rose

A yummy quick bread made with bananas, cherries, chocolate chips and walnuts.

Difficulty Level: ♦♦ - Any Average Adult Can Do This

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Post-Cooking Time: None

Yield: 1 Loaf

1/2 c. butter, softened 1 c. sugar 2 c. flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 c. walnuts 1/4 c. maraschino cherries 1/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease standard loaf pan; mash bananas; and chop walnuts, cherries, and chocolate. Cream softened butter and sugar together until fluffy, about five minutes. Add eggs and bananas, mix until well blended. Add flour and baking soda, beat until fully mixed. Stir in walnuts, cherries, and chocolate chips. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 1 to 1 & 1/2 hours, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Helpful Hints

Mine have always turned out best when I use extremely overripe bananas (as in almost black peels). This recipe doubles pretty well, just use two loaf pans instead of one and you may have to increase the baking time to closer to an hour and a half instead of an hour. The toothpick test is pretty much the only way to tell. If you like lots of mix-ins, up the quantity of walnuts, cherries and chocolate chips to 1/3 cup each.