Sweet Treat: Cocoa Banana Bread

I am a big fan of banana bread! This recipe tastes classic with a slight twist (adding cocoa powder) and uses primarily whole food ingredients. A major goal of mine is to eat foods and ingredients that are recognizable, and I would love to pass these types of recipes on to you! I have another banana bread recipe here as well that uses muesli and applesauce as sweetener if you'd like another option.

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed

• 2 eggs

• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

• 1/3 cup (75g) maple syrup

• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil

• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups (180g) whole wheat flour

• 1/4 cup (20g) unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed (optional, but adds in fiber!)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your loaf pan by lightly spraying with cooking spray or lining with parchment paper.

2. Mash bananas in a large bowl.

3. Whisk in all of the other wet ingredients (eggs, yogurt, maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla) into the bowl with the bananas.

4. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and flaxseed).

5. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until just combined. Try not to overmix.

6. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and smooth out the top.

7. Bake for 45-55 minutes (check on the lower end) until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Tent the top with foil if the top is getting too dark.

8. Cool for 10 minutes and enjoy!