In honor of National Chocolate Day, I want to share my new, delicious, fabulous, chocolatey, banana/hazelnut bread. This recipe is a home run with everyone I have shared it with and I have to say, I am quite proud of myself for creating such a decadent treat. Banana hazelnut bread will be one of your favorites, as well!

My breakfast routine has always been pretty regimental. Normally, I will have a whole wheat English muffin with cinnamon butter or some Kefir with blueberries and granola. Super exciting, I know. (kidding) I wanted to switch things up and make a delicious, healthy treat for breakfast. My banana hazelnut bread has been the best thing to wake up to and I’m almost regretting giving half of my loaf to my friends.

I have never really been huge fan of banana nut bread but in this case, it might as well be my new, favorite treat. I wasn’t really looking to make banana nut bread but I had old bananas and a bag of hazelnuts so I figured why not?! I didn’t want this recipe to be loaded with added sugars and everything else unhealthy, so I went the healthy route by making small substitutions like swapping white flour for whole wheat flour. However, this recipe does call for Nutella because come on, who doesn’t love a little Nutella? This bread is a perfect introduction to the Fall temperatures.

For this recipe you will need:

5 Tbsp Nutella
3 Tbsp canola oil, plus 1 teaspoon
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripened bananas
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup hazelnuts, chopped
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Special equipment:

Baking spray with flour
9 x 5 in loaf pan

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer or large bowl with a hand mixer, combine the 3 Tbsp canola oil, unsalted butter, ripened bananas, and brown sugar. Slowly and one at a time, add the eggs. Mix until everything is well combined. The flour mix and the buttermilk will need to be added in increments to the banana mixture. Beginning and ending with the flour mix, slowly add the flour mix and the buttermilk alternately to the banana mix. Mix until well combined.

Spray the loaf pan with an even layer of baking spray. In a microwave-proof bowl, microwave the Nutella with 1 tsp canola oil, about 20 seconds. Add half of the banana batter to the loaf pan. Pour the Nutella onto the batter. Pour the remaining batter over the Nutella and using a knife, swirl the Nutella into the batter. Sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts and bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs clinging. One thing I always notice with banana nut breads is that they are often times dry, so we want to avoid that and keep the bread as moist as possible. Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. Once the bread has cool, melt the bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler and drizzle over the banana hazelnut bread.

I think you will absolutely love this recipe! Bon Appetit!