Ultra soft and tender gluten-free chocolate banana bread filled with melty dark chocolate chips with NO butter or oil!

Do you know what the best thing about working at a school is? Spring break. And summer break. And winter break. And, you know, all of those bank holidays. But there is something about spring break that seems to come right when you need it. That moment when you think that pretty much any mundane task seems more appealing than teaching kids to sing and dance, which is usually awesome and fun.

So…it’s spring break! Aside from my training and finishing up a house project (it’s SO fun–I can’t wait to show you!), I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing and enjoying every second of it.

These are my favorite times to bake. A random day off? Perfect time for brownies! A morning with no workout planned? Double chocolate banana bread, obviously.

I used to feel really…blah about banana bread. I always expected it to be dry and chewy. Whenever I’d see it at a bakery, it just never looked soft and tender, but then I found a recipe I loved, and I haven’t stopped making it, or variations of it. I can’t believe I missed out on this magical treat for so long!

Last week I had some bananas sitting on my counter begging to be made into banana bread. I eat a lot of bananas, so they don’t get to that extra-ripe-not-at-all-appealing-to-eat-raw stage very often. This day, however, they were there, and they were calling my name and whispering sweet nothings about how they wanted to be combined with flour and chocolate and brown sugar. So…I caved.

I think this chocolate version might even be my favorite. The chocolate comes from both the cocoa powder (use Dutch process, pretty please), and the melty chocolate chips, and it’s flavor is only enhanced by a touch of espresso powder. This is optional, but I suggest it–it will not make your banana bread taste like coffee (although, add more and sub some buttermilk for coffee for a mocha variety…ooomg), but it brings out the chocolate flavor! The result is ridiculously soft, chocolatey and decadent. I brought the rest of this banana bread to work and my friend Denise said it was her favorite thing I’ve ever made. And let me tell you, I bring a lot of food to work, so you know this one’s a winner. 😉