A few summers ago, I visited my sister Sarah in New York City. 

She had just moved out to Brooklyn from East Village with her husband and newborn. Much of our afternoons were spent in her apartment with the new baby…so we would bake.

We made this chocolate chip banana bread one afternoon. It was inspired by her New York friend’s “Brooklyn Banana Bread” from her blog Made By Michelle.

Being in Brooklyn, baking this bread just seemed fitting.

This recipe has remained my favorite chocolate chip banana bread.

It is lighter than most banana breads, but it is so moist and good that one would suspect it's also good for you too.  So give it a try this week!

Brooklyn Banana Bread

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• ½ cup nonfat plain greek yogurt
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or 2 cups gluten-free all purpose flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped dark or bittersweet chocolate (more for top of batter)

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-  In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar, applesauce, and yogurt until they are well blended.  Add the bananas and egg whites. Beat well so that all ingredients are mixed and the bananas are smoothed out.

- Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate mixing bowl.  Add about a ¼ cup of flour mixture at a time to the banana mixture; mix after each flour addition until all of the flour is mixed into the banana mix.

- Toss in chocolate chips and mix together.

- Bread loaf: Coat a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and pour in banana mixture. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

- Muffins: Pour batter into muffin tins and bake about 15 minutes or until they are golden and appear done

My Baking Tip:  To make the bread look like it is loaded with chocolate, sprinkle extra chocolate shavings on top of the batter after you pour it into the baking pans. 

You can use chocolate chips, but I like the look of good quality chopped chocolate.