dark chocolate chip banana bread

Banana Bread has always been a favorite treat of mine. My mom used to make it when I was little, and I started making it myself when I lived in Boulder a few years ago. I decided to dig up the recipe this week when I noticed a few ailing bananas lying around my pod at work. It came out just as good as I remember it -- even better in fact! Luckily my coworkers enjoyed it too. I switched up the recipe a bit this time, adding dark chocolate chips and using whole wheat flour that my sister brought me from her farm in Ithaca, NY. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

4 bananas finely crushed

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (regular flour is fine too, but whole wheat is healthier and still tastes great!)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 bag of dark chocolate chips (1 full bag if you like it super chocolatey)

Preparation:

First, preheat your oven to 360 degrees F (yes, 360 -- not 350). Using a mixer, blend together the butter and sugar. Then mix in the beaten eggs and crushed bananas. Next add the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in the vanilla, then add your dark chocolate chips. Pour into a greased, floured loaf pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for at least ten minutes, then eat and enjoy!

*Tips*

* It's best to use overripe bananas because they're easier to crush, but most importantly because they have a more intense flavor

*The key to this bread is the 4 bananas -- it makes it especially moist. Most banana bread recipes only call for 3