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Thursday, September 4, 2014

Foodie Fridays: Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cake


I am not especially fond of bananas in baked goods.  Much as I like bananas, they are so moist that they make treats like bread and muffins a little too "squishy" for my taste.  Recently, however, I found a recipe for Banana-Oat Snack Cake that solves this problem with the addition of oatmeal.  The oats give the cake a dense, chewy texture in addition to adding an almost nutty flavor.  As I am still attempting to use up my surplus of dark chocolate, I added a cup of coarsely chopped chocolate chunks, and the bitterness was a nice contrast to the sweetness of the banana.  This recipe is also a great way to use up overly ripe bananas, and it is so tasty that I may just deliberately let a few bananas hang around too long as an excuse to make the cake again!

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cake

1 1/2 C. quick-cooking oats
1 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C. light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
6 T. butter, melted
2 bananas, cut or torn into chunks
1 C. coarsely chopped dark chocolate

Combine the first five ingredients in a large bowl.  Whisk together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla in another large bowl.  Slowly stream the butter into the sugar mixture, whisking constantly until well blended.  Stir the bananas and chocolate chunks into the dry ingredients and toss to coat.  Stir the dry mixture into the wet ingredients just until moistened (batter will be thick).  Spread the batter into a well-greased 8-inch square baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until golden brown and just set in the middle (the edges will start to pull away from the pan).  Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.  Cut into 9 squares and serve.

Note: The original recipe calls for lining the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, but I used a well-greased nonstick pan and found that I did not need the paper.  Also, I stirred in a couple of tablespoons of leftover sour cream, but this was only a way to use it up and not really necessary.
             

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