marbled banana bread

     I'm not entirely sure which direction I want to take this blog. Looking at my recent posts, I tend to be serious, and I try to tell a story or make a meaningful insight into non-food related topics. And I like that! I want to learn to write, as well as bake and take photos. Good writing makes my heart all a-flutter, especially on food blogs.
     On the other hand, perhaps this blog is a little too somber for its teenaged author. I ought to lighten up, engage in some one-sided banter, tell you about how my family devoured an entire pan of brownies in one day or whatever. Perhaps that's more reader-friendly. Perhaps I would be more popular if I kept my posts easy-to-read, with attention-grabbing titles.
     But I don't want to pander to the audience. I don't want to turn into one of those people whose blogs are so overwhelming for all the "Follow me on Pinterest!" buttons and ads and recipe roundups and giveaways. I would be content to sit in my little corner of the blogosphere, without a graphic designer and custom code and my own URL. It's a dilemma I'm sure every blogger faces, balancing the desire for more blog traffic with the desire for a personal, genuine, heartfelt voice. For now, though, I think the latter takes greater precedence in my heart.
     So, no, this banana bread wasn't vegan (though it would have been if I had used non-dairy milk) or entirely healthy, or 2-ingredient or gluten-free. It's a moist loaf of banana bread, with serpentine swirls of rich chocolate. I baked it for a friend's 16th birthday party a while back, because I always look for the excuse to bake! And yes, it was devoured. That makes me happier than any number of repins.


Marbled Banana Bread
from The Post Punk Kitchen
makes one 9"x5" loaf

1 cup mashed very ripe banana
3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup almond milk (or your preferred milk)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons boiling water, divided

Prepare boiling water, no need to measure yet. Also, preheat oven to 350 F.
Mash the banana in a large mixing bowl until relatively smooth. It should take 3 average sized ones, but spoon the mashed ‘nanas into a measuring cup to make sure, then return to the mixing bowl. Beat in the sugar, canola oil, milk and vanilla.
Now add the flour, baking soda and salt and gently mix just to incorporate. It’s okay if there is some flour still visible, just be careful not to overmix at this point.
Scoop one cup of the batter up and transfer it to a separate mixing bowl. Now, in a small tea cup mix the cocoa powder with 3 tablespoons boiling water and stir vigorously with a fork until the chocolate is dissolved. Add this chocolate mixture to the one cup of banana and mix until the chocolate is thoroughly smooth and incorporated.
Now back to the original plain banana batter; add 3 tablespoons of boiling water and mix the batter just until relatively smooth.
Here comes the fun part, it’s time to marble! Lightly grease an 8×4 loaf pan. Scoop alternate 1/2 cupfuls of chocolate/banana batter into the loaf pan. Nothing has to be precise here, in fact, the more random, the better. Once all of the batter is in, take a butter knife and swirl it through the batter in circular directions for about 10 seconds.
Bake for 55 minutes. Use a butter knife to test for doneness. Let cool and enjoy!