who doesn't love cinnamon?

This weekend was definitely one for exploring the city with my new camera and cooking and baking.  Snow was swirling around NYC all weekend, and while I felt like someone had just shaken up the snow globe of Manhattan, I feel like I was able to accomplish a lot; including this new recipe that I discovered for banana bread.

I'm a huge fan of bananas- I'll eat them in anything, with anything and I'm notorious for keeping them frozen in the freezer and scaring my roommate because they look quite nasty when they turn brown and very ripe.  But that is the best time to use them- I turn these sluggish looking bananas into delicious treats like muffins or breads!  Just keep them in the freezer and when the mood for baking hits you, take them out and defrost them at room temperature for a few hours.  This weekend, I stumbled upon a banana bread recipe with not only chocolate chips but with cinnamon, and successfully I cleaned out my banana stash!

Banana Bread with Chocolate & Cinnamon


Adopted from the Orangette Blog


I decided to cook this bread in between pausing and unpausing Charlie St. Cloud, a movie I decided to rent and watch this Saturday.  I had read the book and loved it, so I followed up with the movie and surprisingly, it didn't disappoint.  Make sure you get all the important steps out of the way first before you get into the movie- it's hard reading a timer when you're crying.  Oh how I am my mother's daughter.

• 3 very ripe bananas 
•  2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For Topping:

• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray an 8 inch bread pan.

Bread before baking

In a medium mixing bowl, mash the bananas with a fork.  Add the eggs and stir well to combine.  Add the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and vanilla.  Combine. Add in 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pan.

In a small bowl mix the brown sugar and the cinnamon.  Lightly sprinkle the mixture over the top of the pan.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips on top as well.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool before serving!  Enjoy with a glass of milk- that's what I did!

The finished product- yum!