Chocolate chip banana bread

I have a soft spot for Starbucks pastries. Okay, who am I kidding? I have a soft spot for most pastries. And that causes a lot of soft spots on my body. But anyway, I really do love their chocolate chip banana bread and have had it on my mind recently.  Somehow, despite buying bananas every single week, we rarely have a few nice ripe ones on hand. This is because Chris is what I call a "banana martyr". No matter how many times I tell him not to worry about the browned ones - I'll just freeze them and bake with them later - he makes a point of clearing out the fruit bowl for his lunch whenever he sees them. He thinks he's doing me a favor, falling on the rotting fruit grenade, but he isn't. Well, I finally convinced him to let a few escape and go past their prime.

Forgive the photo - if you can't tell by the melty, oozing chocolate, this was fresh out of the oven and I was a little over-eager to put my camera down and finish my slice.

Chocolate chip banana bread
Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 good sized bananas)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Combine the first five ingredients in a bowl and set aside*. 
3. Beat butter in mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar until well combined and creamy, then beat in eggs one at a time. Add banana, lemon juice and vanilla. 
4. Pour mixture in to loaf pan. Bake for about an hour, until top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. 

*The original recipe called for separating the chips and layering them in the middle of the batter. I didn't find that necessary. The chips dropped to the bottom a bit, but it didn't bother me.