The recipe  chosen by Steph of Obsessed with Baking for this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie is on page 46 of Dorie Greenspan’s book  Baking: From My Home to Yours.  COCOA-NANA BREAD. Two of my favorite ingredients– chocolate and banana– play center stage for this delicious snack (or breakfast or…any time food!!!!).  Not only did the recipe have unsweetened cocoa added to the batter, a handful of bittersweet chocolate pieces (or chocolate chips) made this bread taste like decadent chocolate cake with a hint of banana flavor.  We got so crazy about the taste that the second time we made it, we added all kinds of flavors that we thought went well with chocolate and banana— a couple of tablespoons of orange zest (dark chocolate and orange, anyone?), a cup of chopped peanuts (banana with peanut butter, yum!) and more chocolate!

Here’s the version I baked where we got crazy with flavors.  By the way, this cake disappeared so fast I don’t think it even made it out of the bundt pan whole!

Peanut Orange Cocoa-Nana Cake (whew, that’s a mouthful!)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups wholewheat pastry flour
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup ground of chopped peanuts
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Combine flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. in a bowl.  Set aside.
2. Cream butter in an electric mixer.  Add eggs one at a time and continue mixing, scraping side of bowl in between mixing.  Add bananas, orange zest, vanilla extract and sour cram.  Continue mixing at low speed until combined.
3. Add dry ingredients  in 3 additions, mixing until incorporated.  Add chocolate chips and crushed peanuts and stir carefully using rubber spatula.  Pour into 9 cup bundt pan.
4. Bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.  Cool on a rack for 10 minutes.  Invert and release from pan and let cool at room temperature before serving.

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