Confession time – I’ve never had chunky monkey ice cream. But doesn’t chunky monkey sound so much cooler than banana with chocolate and walnuts?? Yeah, I thought so too =). A few weeks ago, my aunt posted a picture on instagram of a loaf of chunky monkey banana bread she made. It looked great and got me to craving banana bread. Instead of making a quick bread version, I decided to combine several recipes that I had been wanting to try into one ultimate chunky monkey banana bread.
When chocolate swirl brioche, yeasted banana bread, and walnuts meet A-MAZING things happen y’all! I could not keep my face out of this. I was kind of glad when it was gone….er, well my skinny jeans were anyway =). It looks fancy, but it’s really pretty easy to make. The hardest part is waiting for it to rise. Since it is half whole wheat flour, it does take a little longer to rise than white bread. Don’t try to rush it! Your patience will be rewarded. I promise. I really can’t say enough good things about this bread. If you like chocolate or walnuts or banana bread or yeast bread or carbs or FOOD of any kind, you should give this bread a try. It’s the bomb dot com. haha Enjoy!
Chunky Monkey Yeasted Banana Bread
for the dough:
1/3 cup warm water
2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup very ripe mashed banana (I used thawed, frozen bananas)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1-3/4 to 2 cups bread flour
2 tbsp softened butter
for the filling:
1 cup toasted chopped walnuts
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 tbsp butter
1. In small bowl or measuring cup, combine the yeast and warm water. Stir until yeast is dissolved.
2. In bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine whole wheat flour, 1-3/4 cup of bread flour, salt, and sugar. Mix until combined. Add in yeast, egg, mashed banana, and softened butter. Switch to dough hook and knead until mixture forms a smooth, elastic ball – about 3-4 minutes. Add remaining flour if necessary.
3. Place in well oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1-1/2 hours.
4. Combine chocolate chips and butter in microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals until mixture is melted and smooth. Allow to cool at room temperature while dough rises.
5. Punch dough down and roll in large rectangle, about 12 inches x 15 inches. Spread chocolate mixture over dough. Top with walnuts. Starting from shorter side, tightly roll the dough into a cylinder. Using a sharp knife, cut the cylinder in half lenthwise. Lay pieces side by side and “braid” together by alternately crossing one piece over the other. Place in greased loaf pan and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled in size.
6. Once doubled, bake at 350 degress for 35-40 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil after 20 minutes if top starts to brown too quickly.
