Cacao Nibbed Banana Bread
Not Quite Nigella has decided to throw her first blogging event.
When eaten by themselves, cacao nibs have a crunchy, cool, chocolaty taste. They are a little grainy, but get smooth as you chew them. Many fine candy retailers will have a variety of nibs available for purchase. Once baked, the cacao nibs take on the texture of walnuts. The flavor is very mellow, and when baked in the bread, most people think the bread contains nuts, instead of cacao nibs. If you think chocolate, you can taste it, otherwise, I'm not sure the flavor is strong enough. Also - if you think chocolate - you'll want sweetened chocolate. Yes, sweetened chocolate would make this much better, but would turn it into more of a dessert. Sweetened nibs, or chocolate-coated nibs, might make this better, without overpowering the bread.
I think I will pick up some of the chocolate-coated cacao nibs and try this recipe again. Anyway - here is the recipe:
Cacao Nibbed Banana Bread
3 Overripe Bananas
1 Cup Sugar
1 Stick Melted Butter (cooled)
2 Large Eggs
1 tsp Rum
2 Cups Unbleached AP Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1/2 cup cacao nibs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (non convection)
Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray, and make a parchment sling for the pan.
Mash the bananas with the sugar until liquefied, then mix in the butter, eggs, and rum.
Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Fold that into the bananas and mix until combined. Fold in the cacao nibs and pour into a prepared loaf pan.
Bake for 50 minutes to 70 minutes. You want the internal temp to be 210 degrees, and an inserted toothpick needs to come out clean. Mine took about 65 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Remove from pan, peel off sling, and rest on wire rack until the bread is near room temperature.
I was planning on using the rest of the bananas,
until I came across her event. Now I can do both. I used my
tried-and-true banana bread recipe (adapted from Alton Brown's). It's worked
a number of times, is fast and easy to do. This time I added some cacao
nibs to the recipe
When eaten by themselves, cacao nibs have a crunchy, cool, chocolaty taste. They are a little grainy, but get smooth as you chew them. Many fine candy retailers will have a variety of nibs available for purchase. Once baked, the cacao nibs take on the texture of walnuts. The flavor is very mellow, and when baked in the bread, most people think the bread contains nuts, instead of cacao nibs. If you think chocolate, you can taste it, otherwise, I'm not sure the flavor is strong enough. Also - if you think chocolate - you'll want sweetened chocolate. Yes, sweetened chocolate would make this much better, but would turn it into more of a dessert. Sweetened nibs, or chocolate-coated nibs, might make this better, without overpowering the bread.
I think I will pick up some of the chocolate-coated cacao nibs and try this recipe again. Anyway - here is the recipe:Cacao Nibbed Banana Bread
3 Overripe Bananas
1 Cup Sugar
1 Stick Melted Butter (cooled)
2 Large Eggs
1 tsp Rum
2 Cups Unbleached AP Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1/2 cup cacao nibs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (non convection)
Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray, and make a parchment sling for the pan.
Mash the bananas with the sugar until liquefied, then mix in the butter, eggs, and rum.
Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Fold that into the bananas and mix until combined. Fold in the cacao nibs and pour into a prepared loaf pan.
Bake for 50 minutes to 70 minutes. You want the internal temp to be 210 degrees, and an inserted toothpick needs to come out clean. Mine took about 65 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Remove from pan, peel off sling, and rest on wire rack until the bread is near room temperature.
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love the idea of cacao nibs in a banana bread and appreciate your comments about it not tasting very chocolatey - I have tried them in orange and cacao nib cookies and they were interesting but no chocolate kick - but have lots over that I need ideas for so this one will go in the to do list!
If you check my more recent post, I made another banana bread with orange extract and sweetened cacao nibs. They are seeped in a sugar syrup, and it make a noticeable difference in the taste of the bread. They still come across as nutty, but the chocolate flavor is a little more noticeable. I grind them up a little (mortar and pestle) and try to get a few to an 'almost dust' stage. This spreads the chocolate flavor a little more without making the dish taste too sweet.
If you know someone who is allergic to nuts, they make great replacements for them when baked.