I should be telling you about how to make the most of late summer’s plums, peaches, nectarines, and blueberries. I ought be telling you about the marvelous, small, dark green watermelon WITH seeds: SEEDS!!!! which I snagged at the farmers’ market last Saturday, and which we are munching on right now. That will come, but for today, the truth is that I got distracted by a post on the fantastic, inspiring and delightful blog, Smitten Kitchen, from a good while back, because of four words: Double Chocolate Banana Bread. Once I’d seen them, I couldn’t think past them. And once I just went to check and peek and remind myself to come back to it come winter, I was lost. Or rather, home.
I love banana bread, and knew that people put in chocolate chips which never really appealed to me; but I had never ever considered that banana bread could BE chocolate, and not just that, but double. I was all in, and I have made this three times in the last month. Which was called August. I’m not proud, I’m just saying this is where I am. So before I return to the blackberries and the peaches and the watermelon, cantaloupe, and newly arriving scuppernong grapes, I’m confessing that this kind of baked treasure is always in season for me. It comes together quickly, it bakes up handsomely, it was good with and without nuts, and it tastes even more wonderful the second day.
Here is the link to Smitten Kitchen‘s recipe for Double Chocolate Banana Bread. Like me, you may want to make it now, or soon, or as soon as the right bananas reach their luscious, fragrant, nearly over the hill-perfection for banana bread heaven. Or you may wish to save this for cooler weather, when you are seeking reasons to crank up the stove and heat up the kitchen for comfort and cozy-ness. For those days when you no longer have access to peaches, plums, nectarines, and blueberries, when watermelons are but a memory, and apples and pears the new rulers of the seasonal produce world.
Then, I’m betting that Smitten Kitchen‘s Double Chocolate Banana Bread will be just the ticket, and it will occur to you that it might go perfectly with a mug of hot chocolate, whipped cream/marshmallows optional. For now, do what works for you; but remember, this goes wonderfully with a scoop of vanilla or whipped cream and a pile of late-summer berries, peaches, and plums. If you get yourself a copy of The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, you’ll find a year round abundance of kitchen pleasures, SK-style.
Smitten Kitchen‘s Double Chocolate Banana Bread RECIPE:
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