Ingredients
You need three overripe bananas, 115g of unsalted butter, melted and cooled, 150g of brown sugar, one egg, one teaspoon of vanilla extract, 190g of flour, one teaspoon of baking soda, half a teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of cinnamon, and 100g of dark chocolate chips.
Getting Started
You need to preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius and prepare the loaf tin by lining it with baking paper. The bananas need to be overripe, meaning that they are already speckled or almost black. They may not look appetizing, but they will make the banana bread more delicious and sweeter.
Making the Batter
Mash the bananas in a bowl until they are mostly smooth but with a few lumps, as it will be easier to eat if they are not fully incorporated. Add the melted butter and mix until combined, then add the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir the mixture until it becomes homogeneous and glossy.
Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and gently fold until no patches of dry mix remain. You should stop when you see no more flour traces, as the overmixing will make the banana bread more compact and less fluffy. At the end, add the chocolate chips and give the batter a few more gentle strokes.
Baking
Pour the banana bread batter into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the surface with a spatula. If you want to make a bakery-style banana bread, you can cut one of the bananas in half lengthwise and place them on top of the loaf. Then, bake the banana bread for 55-65 minutes, depending on your oven. You may check if it is done with a skewer in the middle of the loaf; if it comes out with a few crumbs but no liquid, it is time to take it out of the oven.
Cooling
Allow the banana bread to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before carefully removing it onto a wire rack. You should leave it to cool for at least another 30 minutes before cutting. It is advisable not to cut it when it is still hot because it will seem undercooked even when it is not.
