My Chouchoux: Kahlua-Chocolate Banana Bread 卡魯哇巧克力香蕉蛋糕

I don't know about you, but whenever I surf around online looking at yummy food photos, it always makes me hungry. And I mean anytime, anywhere, and even after I just ate! That's how this banana bread recipe was born. （／_＼）I was pinning photos from Pinterest one night and I came across this Espresso-Chocolate Banana Bread recipe from Yes To Yolks. The idea of espresso, chocolate chips, and banana all together sounded so mouth-watering to me. I had just finished my dinner and had a belly full of food, but at that moment, nothing was going to stop me. I didn't care how late it was, I was determined to make that darned espresso-chocolate banana bread! (*≧m≦*)

There was only one small problem: when I checked my pantry and fridge, I was disappointed to see that I didn't have all the ingredients... ⊙▂⊙ Nope, that didn't stop me! Since I often don't like to follow recipes anyway, I didn't care. I started to see what I could use to substitute for the ingredients I didn't have. As it turned out, the bread still came out amazingly nice and moist, as the original recipe described.

That night, my palate and my belly were both contented with this rich, chocolaty, slightly caffeinated and banana-y bread, without the guilty feeling one gets after eating late-night, over-the-top sweets! We even had it for breakfast the next morning! I don't know if I'd really encourage you to do what I do all the time (⌒_⌒;), but once in a while, it's kind of nice to satisfy your craving that way and still know you're eating fairly healthy. I'd say that if there's anything that I can place the blame on, it would be the power of the Internet!

I didn't mash my bananas completely, since I like to be able to see pieces of banana
我喜歡麵包裡的香蕉稍微成塊狀，所以沒有全都壓成泥

Kahlua-Chocolate Banana Bread (makes 1 loaf)

A: 1 C all-purpose flour

1/4 C whole-wheat pastry flour

1/4 C quinoa flour

1 T chia seed powder or flax seed powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

1 T instant coffee powder

B: 1 1/2 C banana (about 2-3), slightly mashed

1 t lemon juice

C: 3 T sucanat

2 T agave nectar

1/4 C melted coconut oil

1/4 C plain Greek yogurt or sour cream (room-temperature)

2 T soy milk or milk (room-temperature)

1 large egg, slightly beaten (room-temperature)

1/2 t vanilla extract

1 T Kahlua

3/4 t sea salt

1 C chocolate chips (the darker, the better!)

1/2 C sliced almonds

1. Line the bread pan with parchment paper and oil it.

2. Place ingredients A together in a medium size bowl.

3. Mix ingredients B together.

4. Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC.

5. Add B and C to a large bowl and mix well.

6. Sift A into the large bowl that contains B and C (the wet ingredients) and stir with a rubber spatula to combine. *Don't worry about sifting your instant coffee powder if it's not fine.

7. Add the chocolate chips to the large bowl and give it a few stirs.

8. Pour the mixture into the parchment-lined bread pan. Sprinkle the sliced almonds on top.

9. Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes until the cake tester comes out clean.

10. Lift the parchment paper to transfer the banana bread onto a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

- Yvonne

不知道大家是否有這樣的經驗：每當我上網看食譜、照片找靈感時，經常都會看到肚子餓，而且不管是在何時何地，甚至連剛吃飽都可以發生這種事情！這個香蕉巧克力麵包食譜就是在這樣的情況之下做出來的…（／_＼）那天晚上，我又像往常一樣到Pinterest上收括一些食譜照片，我從那裡看到Yes To Yolk的Espresso Chocolate Banana Bread (濃縮咖啡巧克力香蕉蛋糕)。忘卻了自己肚子才剛填飽了晚餐，我開始想像香蕉蛋糕裡那濃濃的咖啡與巧克力香，哇~口水都快留出來了啦！此時此刻，我決定再晚都要把這香蕉蛋糕做出來，下定決心要做的事，什麼也阻止不了我！(*≧m≦*)

當我站在冰箱的面前時才發現一個"小小"的問題：家裡沒有所有的食材！⊙▂⊙ 但此時，我那貪吃的慾望可沒有因此而放棄。而事實上，我本來就是一個不愛跟食譜，喜歡亂來又高拐(台語)的怪胎。少了幾樣配方哪算什麼，反而讓我更積極的去想能使用什麼代替、並更改其它一些食材。結果證明了改變配方後的食譜，做出來不但沒有失敗，也非常好吃、並且還比原來的食譜更健康！

由於這食譜與很多一般的香蕉麵包比起來少糖又少油，那晚深夜無愧疚的吃下一大塊，隔天早上又當早餐再吞下一大塊！基本上我是不鼓勵大家學習我這種貪吃的嗜好啦 (⌒_⌒;)，但偶爾心血來潮時來一次，以滿足心裡的慾望與口感、又能做出吃了不會有太多罪惡感的食物是ok的，生活總得添加一些情趣，是不是？我想，真正罪魁禍首的…應該要怪那可惡又"危險" 的網絡吧????!