Warm spicy banana pecan chocolate melty goodness right out of the oven. MnnnnnnMnnnMnn!

My husband can’t sing enough praises about this recipe, in fact it was the one that he says cinched the marriage proposal. It was good then, but it’s also one I have been developing for the last 3 years and I think, possibly, maybe, it’s finally truly perfect.

These are in fact so easy and wonderful, I honestly can’t believe how good they are considering the little amount of work they require.

NOTE: This was originally a single loaf recipe. My pics are of a DOUBLE RECIPE, but I will be giving you the normal recipe for a single loaf, or 16-18 regular sized muffins, so have a 12 cup muffin tin, as well as a 6 cup muffin tin ready for the regular recipe.

Ingredients:

(In 2 separate bowls, 1 for wet ingredients, 1 for dry.)

Dry:

1 2/3 cups flour (white all purpose)

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

1 bar good dark chocolate, (100g) chopped (or chunks or chips if you can find)

Wet:

1 and 1/3 cup white sugar

2 large room temperature eggs, mixed

1/2 cup sunflower seed oil

1/4 cup Greek yogurt, sour cream, or creme fraiche

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 large RIPE bananas, sliced (folded in to the wet ingredients at the very end, to the whole mixture, otherwise they break down and you don’t get chunks, just banana flavor and moistness).

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 375F, or 190C

2) In large bowl, mix together: Flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, chopped nuts, and chocolate pieces.

3) In medium sized bowl, mix together: Sugar, eggs, sunflower seed oil, greek yogurt, and vanilla.

4) Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, mix just until combined, then fold in bananas.

*Do NOT add wet ingredients to dry ingredients until you are ready to bake! The baking soda needs the sour cream to react, and rise. The reaction starts immediately, and stops eventually, so once you mix them, they should go straight into the muffin cups and then into the preheated oven. If you want to make them non-dairy, leave out the baking SODA and the sour cream and use 1 teaspoon baking POWDER instead, which doesn’t need a catalyst.

6) For loaf cake: Pour into loaf pan and bake 1 hour, do NOT open oven, then + check every 6-8 min after that. Let cool on rack for at least 30 minutes, then dig in.

For muffins: Bake for 12-16 minutes with a timer, or until the middles look golden brown and set but not dry. Gently press down on the top of one if you are not sure. If it jiggles at all, it’s not finished. You can try using a toothpick but you are likely to hit banana or chocolate, so its not the best test. they will literally smell and taste better than the best spice cake you have ever had.

How simple they look, yet they hold many secrets…

Allow to cool in pan or on rack for 5-10 minutes, then enjoy warm with a big glass of milk. They keep in a tupperware out of the fridge for a good 3-4 days, if they last that long.