Claire Tansey gives us her take on a banana bread, made with decadent chocolate and crunchy walnuts!

Chocolate-walnut banana bread

Prep 25 minutes, total 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 large, very ripe bananas
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds (optional)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp dark rum (optional)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly oil or spray a 9 x 5-in. loaf pan.
2. Mash bananas in a medium bowl or large measuring cup. They should measure about 1 1/2 cups.
3. Stir both flours with ground flax seeds, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
4. Beat butter with sugar in a large bowl until combined, then beat in eggs, rum and vanilla. Stir in bananas.
5. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture just until combined. Do not overmix. Gently fold in chocolate chips and walnuts. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Smooth top.
6. Bake in centre of oven until a cake tester or skewer inserted into centre of loaf comes out clean, 50 to 65 min.
7. Cover loosely with foil for the last 15 min if top browns too quickly. Remove pan to a rack to cool for 10 min. Run a knife around inside of pan to loosen loaf.
8. Carefully turn out loaf, then turn top-side up on a rack. Bread will keep well at room temperature up to 3 days or frozen up to 2 months.

Makes 12 slices

Per slice 297 calories, 5 g protein, 41 g carbs, 15 g fat, 4 g fibre, 219 mg sodium

Kitchen Tip: Got more ripe bananas than you can bake? Peel and freeze in freezer bags or simply put in the freezer with peel on. When ready to bake, defrost and use all the banana pulp, including the black liquid that appears if peel was left on – it makes the bread even more flavourful.

Courtesy Chatelaine, www.chatelaine.com