Going Bananas

My sister Rebecca hates bananas. Hates them. And one of the great ironies of the world may be that her son, Simon, loves them deeply. However, I believe in my heart of hearts that perhaps, if Rebecca had tried the banana bread I made last week, she might be convinced to change her mind.

Some backgound: following our triumphant Dorie extravaganza, I got on a plane and went to Israel for 12 days. Most things in Israel are, surprisingly, just as (if not more) expensive than things in America. The exception to this rule is the shuk, an open-air market in downtown Jerusalem. There, you can buy everything you would ever want (fruit? sure! spices? why not! pants? why would you go anywhere else?) for very little money. So naturally, when I ventured there with my friends Maital and Adam, we basically bought our body weight in food for approximately $20-- including some amazing bananas. Since Maital and Adam were kind enough to host 18 guests over the course of Shabbat, I figured the least I could do was make them delicious dessert.

This recipe is great because it's really easy, and it tastes amazing whether it's room temperature or heated up, so the chocolate chips are all melty. I doubled it and baked it in a 9x13 pan. I didn't have all of the right ingredients so I improvised a bit by combining different recipes, but the end result did not disappoint. Sorry there's no picture of the inside-- it was so good that people finished it over Shabbat, and there was nothing left to photograph.

REBECCA'S NOTE: It would NOT make me like bananas. Sorry!

Banana Bread (adapted from cooks.com):

1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon each ground nutmeg and salt
2 medium (1 cup) ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate chips according to your preference

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with Parchment Paper or grease the pan.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt on a sheet of parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl combine bananas, eggs, oil, milk and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients to banana mixture; stir just until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips; pour into pan.
Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.