My family goes through bananas like they're going out of style... I kid you not. Maybe you've seen people at the grocery store who have 3 huge bunches of bananas in their cart, one at each phase of ripeness from overwhelmingly green to perfectly yellow? Yup, that's us. So, you'd think that with so many bananas in our house all of the time, there'd be plenty of opportunities to make banana bread with the overly ripe leftovers. In fact, this is not the case. Most of our bananas get put in smoothies or eaten plain, and while I have been able to snag a few for baking lately, the fact remains that you're lucky if you get to lay claim to a couple of bananas in my house.
What I love about using bananas to bake is that they contribute so much natural sweetness, reducing or even eliminating the need for added sugar. This Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread, for example, has only ¼ cup of sugar in it, which is pretty good for a quick bread! It's also really moist, which is a factor that I deem very important when judging the quality of most any kind of baked good, and particularly quick breads. And of course, chocolate and banana are always a good pairing, but when you add espresso to the mix, it only gets better! There isn't enough espresso powder in this bread to make too bold a statement, but enough to make an impact, I'd say. If you really like the flavor of coffee, you could add a bit more espresso powder, which I'll probably do next time I make this loaf. Of course, on the contrary, if you can't stand coffee - in which case you're crazy ;) - just skip the espresso powder all together, and you'll still have a great breakfast/snack/dessert, depending on what time of day you allow yourself to indulge in chocolate. Personally, I prefer to start AND end my days with chocolate.
By the way, you can buy espresso powder, but you can also make it. Here's the way I made espresso powder for this recipe.
PrintCoffee Banana Bread (gluten-free option)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes (up to 60)
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes (up to 15)
- Yield: one 8 ½" x 4 ½" loaf 1x
- Category: quick breads
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 6 ⅜ ounces (1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour (gluten-free or regular)
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 ¾ ounces (½ cup) brown sugar
- 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and briefly cooled
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ¼ cup strongly-brewed coffee, hot
- 3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 12 ¾ ounces (1 ½ cups) mashed ripe bananas
- mini chocolate chips, for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease an 8 ½" x 4 ½" loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt until thoroughly combined.
- In a second medium mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and melted butter until the mixture is creamy and well-combined. Add the egg and whisk in rapidly for about 60 seconds; the mixture should be smooth and noticeably paler in color.
- In a small glass or bowl, stir together the hot coffee, instant coffee granules, and vanilla extract until the coffee granules have dissolved.
- Add the mashed banana to the wet ingredients. While whisking, slowly pour in the coffee mixture, whisking just until the bananas and coffee are dispersed into the batter. Add the dry ingredients and fold in just until incorporated, with no streaks remaining.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle the top generously with mini chocolate chips if desired. Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let bread cool in pan on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Then, carefully remove loaf from pan and place directly on wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Amelia says
I just made this today, and it was so yummy!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe :)) but mine is not rising tall like yours. Or maybe is it better if the butter just softened instead of melted? Or maybe i should whipped the egg longer? Thank youu.
★★★★★
alexandra says
Are you sure that your baking soda is still good? That could have something to do with it. Otherwise, is it possible you mixed the batter too long after adding the dry ingredients? (If this is the case your bread would probably be a bit tough). My last thought would be that your oven temperature might be slightly off. You could get an oven thermometer to check that out.
Amelia says
Okay i'll keep those things in mind :)
Maybe the oven temperature was slightly off. I'll put in the oven thermometer next time. Thank you so much for your reply :))
IrishJenn says
I made this today ~ 4 mini-loaves. I had to substitute instant coffee because I couldn't find espresso powder. They turned out really good. I like that it's not too sweet. I think the espresso powder would give it even better flavor, so I'm going to track some down somewhere!
brighteyedbaker says
I'm so happy to hear that! You can try make your own espresso powder, which is what I did for this recipe. It's pretty simple. Here's the link if you'd like to check it out.
IrishJenn says
I saw that. I assumed that "leftover espresso grounds" meant the grounds that are left after you brew espresso, right? We don't drink espresso. Can I get the same effect by finely grinding regular espresso ground coffee that hasn't been brewed?
brighteyedbaker says
Right. From what I've read, a key part of espresso powder is that the beans have been ground and then brewed. I also read, though, that you can grind coffee or espresso beans very finely and just use that, but use less because it will be stronger. I know I've used ground coffee beans in recipes before, and I was happy with the results.
Christina @ Sweet Pea's Kitchen says
Mmmm...one of my favorites! I am so glad that you enjoyed the recipe! :)
brighteyedbaker says
I did! How can you not enjoy banana bread with chocolate and espresso?
Jennifer (Delicieux) says
I love your philosophy of starting and ending a day with chocolate! A slice of chocolate banana bread looks like a perfect way to start a day!
brighteyedbaker says
It's a pretty good philosophy, isn't it? Many people think chocolate in the morning is too indulgent, but it suits me just fine :) The bread is nice and moist; I hope you try it!
Medifast says
Oh thank you so much for a new banana bread recipe to try, kind of a grown-up version, to the kitchen I go, thanks again.