Banana Bread with Chocolate and Crystallized Ginger

I got this recipe in A Homemade Life, though Molly Wizenberg also has a version of it posted on Orangette. I love banana bread, and this was a great variation!



6 Tbsp unsalted butter or lactose-free margarine
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups mashed banana (from about 3 large ripe bananas)
¼ cup well-stirred lactose-free plain yogurt (whole-milk if possible)
1 tsp vanilla

Set a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 °F. Grease a 9”x5” loaf pan.

In a small bowl, microwave the butter until just melted. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the chocolate chips and the crystallized ginger and whisk well to combine. Set aside.



In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a fork. Add the mashed banana, yogurt, melted butter and vanilla and stir to mix well.



Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients and stir gently with a rubber spatula, scraping down the sides as needed, until just combined. Do not overmix. The batter will be thick and somewhat lumpy, but there should be no unincorporated flour. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.



Bake until the loaf is a deep shade of golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. If the loaf seems to be browning too quickly, tent with aluminum foil.



Cool the loaf in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. The tip it out onto the rack and let it cool completely before slicing – unless you absolutely can’t help yourself, in which case, dig in.