I love baking quick breads. They are easy to make, less sweater and healthier than a cake. This Banana Bread with hint of Orange and Cocoa is easy to make and perfect for breakfast or snack. It has less oil and less sugar with goodness of whole wheat(atta) and oatmeal which are high in fiber. Dates are used to substitute for half of the sugar. While cocoa and chocolate chips were added to trick my kids into eat it, the use of Orange zest was impulsive but tasty decision.

You can use all of any one flour or combination of  Whole Wheat Flour, All Purpose Flour and Oats Flour (instead of flour combination I used). I added raisins to the batter. But, you can add any nuts, dry fruits or chocolate chips of equal quantity at end to the batter. With all the raisins,dates and orange flavors, this tasted like plum cake to me. Cranberry and shredded coconut is other flavor combination I tried and loved. So do try this bread recipe with flavors of your choice and let me know how it turned out to you. You can share the pictures on facebook or instagram with me.

Orange scented Chocolate Banana Bread

Servings:6

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:

Whole Wheat Flour: 1 cup

Oats Flour: 1 cup (Grind oats to fine powder)

Cocoa Powder: 1/4 cup

Baking Powder: 1 tsp

Baking Soda: 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon Powder: 1 tsp

Salt: 1/2 tsp

Medjool Dates: 1/2 cup, chopped finely and dusted with flour to mix uniformly in batter

Wet Ingredients:

Banana: 3-4+ extra for garnish, large (approx. 1 1/4 cup  mashed)

Brown/Raw Sugar: 1/2 cup (Can use white sugar too)

Eggs: 2

Yogurt: 1/4 cup

Milk: 1/3 cup

Vegetable Oil: 3 tbsp

Orange Peel: 2 tbsp

Vanilla: 1 tsp

Additional:

Raisins: 1/2 cup

Chocolate Chips: 1/4 cup

Banana Slices: a few, ripe but not over ripe

Coarse Sugar: 1.5 tsp

Cinnamom Powder: 0.5 tsp

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease 9″X 5″ loaf pan and line with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Rub orange zest into sugar and set aside.
3. Mix all the dry ingredients until well combined.
4. In a blender or food processor, blend all the wet ingredients until smooth. You can do with hand whisk too.
5. Mix dry ingredients into wet until well combined. Do not over mix.
6. Combine raisins and chocolate chips to the batter.
7. Pour the batter into greased loaf pan until 2/3rd full.
8. Top the batter with banana slices. Combine cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on the top.
9. Bake the batter for 1 hour 15 minutes or more until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean without large lumps. Check the cake at 1 hour time and cover the top with aluminium foil to avoid darkening.
10. Let cool in the pan for sometime and then cool it on the rack. It is best served the next day.
11. Serve the slices warm with dollop of butter or whipped cream.

Notes:

1. The bread stays fresh covered in air tight container for 6-7 days in refrigerator or 2-3 days at room temperature. It freezes well too.
2. You can pour the batter in muffin tray and bake for 15-20 minutes for Banana Bread Muffins too.