Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

This banana bread is moist, flavorful, simple & versatile — it’s been our go-to banana bread recipe for over a decade. Not in the mood for chocolate chips? Toss in some dried cranberries or some toasted walnuts — even a plain slice never disappoints!

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread | theinspiredparent.com

It’s easy to double the recipe to make two loaves. If you can find them, we like to use Ghirardelli or Guittard chocolate chips — you can use semi-sweet but we prefer using bittersweet to balance things out a bit. The bread can be wrapped in plastic & kept at room temperature for up to three days — but it never lasts that long at our place!

Enjoy!

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Chocolate Chip Banana Bread | theinspiredparent.com

Banana Bread | theinspiredparent.com

 

Quick & Easy Breakfast Burrito

Sometimes simple, quick breakfasts are necessary, but that doesn’t mean they have to be boring. We often make breakfast burritos using various leftovers — toss in some scrambled eggs and shredded cheese and goodness awaits!

Simple breakfast burrito using leftovers & a few fresh ingredients.
Simple breakfast burrito using leftovers & a few fresh ingredients.

We had tacos a couple of nights ago — basic taco-seasoned ground pork — and we also had some leftover rice pilaf. Warmed both of those in the microwave while scrambling the eggs. We filled low-carb tortillas with our meat & rice, added the scrambled eggs, sliced black olives, a little diced onion & red bell pepper, a dollop of sour cream and some shredded Chihuahua cheese and our simple, tasty, taco-inspired breakfast burritos were all set.

Though this weekend’s filling was pretty basic compared with some others we’ve made, truly anything goes! What are some of your favorite breakfast burrito fillings?

Our Favorite Pumpkin Bread

What we like about this bread is that it has a moist, lighter crumb compared with some denser varieties. The delightfully crispy top does soften up a bit after it is wrapped for storage, as happens with most quick breads, so enjoy a couple of pieces the day you bake these tasty treats. We like to make one loaf with chocolate chips and one without. Another option is adding 1/2 c. of nuts (chopped walnuts are yummy).

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 Ingredients:
  • 3 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
  • 2 – 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 – 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 tsp. ground nutmeg (freshly ground, if you have it)
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • ½ tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 3 c. granulated sugar
  • 1 c. unsalted butter, well-softened
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • One 15 oz. can of pumpkin
  • ½ c. Ghirardelli mini chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350˚F & grease two 9 x5″ loaf pans with butter.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder & salt together.
  3. In a larger mixing bowl, cream the sugar, butter & eggs for about 2 minutes, ’til fluffy. Add the pumpkin and blend with a spatula.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet a little at a time, gently folding ’til combined.
  5. Once the batter is combined, pour half of the batter into a one of the prepared pans. Fold the chocolate chips (and/or nuts) into the remaining batter and then pour it into the other pan.
  6. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a skewer in the center comes out clean.
  7. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Makes 2 loaves