Apples and Bananas Bread (With Chocolate Chunks!)

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas . . . yes, I was singing to myself as I baked.

I mean, who can resist iples and bynynys?

Last summer I made and canned a whole bunch of applesauce and stored it in our basement pantry. Then I promptly forgot about it. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. The upside, though, is that I just rediscovered the applesauce cache a few weeks ago, and it was like the joy of the harvest all over again! I am having lots of fun dreaming up creative ways to use up my stash. This recipe is one such example.

The applesauce that I made contained nothing but apples and cinnamon – no added sweeteners – and I cooked it down for quite a while, so it was very thick (almost moving towards the consistency of apple butter). So, if you only have access to the more watery conventional applesauce that grocery stores typically stock, you might want to add a little less liquid to your recipe (maybe cut a tablespoon or two of almond milk) so that your bread does not turn out too runny.

So, without further ado, here is the recipe I dreamed up for the family this week . . .

1 cup coconut flour
1 cup almond flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
½ cup coconut oil, melted
3 eggs
¾ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk*
2 bananas, mashed
½ cup applesauce
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp honey
4 oz chocolate, rough chopped**

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease your loaf pan. Mix together flours, baking powder, and spices. Beat in eggs, coconut oil, almond milk, applesauce, vanilla, honey, and banana. Stir chocolate into the batter. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for about 55 minutes, or until the top of your loaf is beginning to brown and crack, and it passes the toothpick test.

Let it cool for about a half hour. Resist the temptation to taste it earlier, because if it is to warm when you cut it, the slices will fall apart! Nick and I think that this bread is best served still slightly warm, though, with grass-fed butter for a topping.

*I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk because I usually have some in my fridge (I love it in smoothies), but any sort of dairy (if you do dairy) or nut milk would work fine.

**Of course the chocolate is totally optional, but I think it adds a delicious and decadent element to the recipe. I know that it is easier just to dump in chocolate chips, rather than chop up a chocolate bar, but I have a hard time finding high-quality, high cocoa content chocolate chips. I would suggest finding a good bar of chocolate between 70 and 85%, just to keep the sugar content down and the taste quality.

I am sharing this recipe at Tasty Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tuesday Night Supper Club, Made from Scratch Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, the Hearth and Soul blog hop, Let’s Do Brunch, Real Food Wednesday, Works for Me Wednesday, and Gluten-Free Wednesday, and What’s On Your Plate Wednesday, Creative Share Wednesday, What’s on the Menu Wednesday, and Full Plate Thursdays, Allergy Friendly Fridays, Sweet Tooth Fridays, Food Trip Friday, Sweets for Saturday, Saturday Nite Special, This Week’s Cravings, and Baker’s Sunday.