Chocolate-Chocolate Banana Bread

There are a few downsides of dog ownership. At the top of my list is having to monitor the pottying habits of another creature. While Peyton has been house training well, I really don't look forward to my daily trip outdoors after putting the children to bed where I pick up all of Peyton's presents that he left throughout the day.

However, one major perk of having Peyton around is his unique ability to cleanse the floor of any food particulate. He keeps our floor absolutely spotless whereas before after mealtime the floor would be littered in rejected, discarded pieces of my children's dinner. It's fantastic. It almost makes up for his muddy paws tracking in dirt after rolling around outside. Almost.

With this upside comes a downside. Peyton has no concept of what food or object is in fact smart for him to eat. And apparently there is a long list of foods that he shouldn't eat. I found this out the emotionally traumatic way after posting this picture on facebook.

Cute isn't it? Emma casually eating a bunch of grapes while Peyton looks longingly at her in the hopes that she might deem him worthy of one. Right after I posted the picture, several dog-loving friends began sending me urgent messages telling me that grapes, even in the smallest amount, can be lethal to dogs. Apparently it may contribute to kidney failure and the only possible rescue of the animal should that begin to occur is to put him on dialysis. What the what?! I had never, ever heard about this!

So, I spent the next day watching Peyton for signs of renal failure and interrogating Emma endlessly about just how many grapes he had managed to eat. Thankfully, from the information I garnered from my stubborn little girl, I came to the conclusion that she really does not relish sharing her food and he only ate the few grapes that she dropped. Still, I kept following my dog around just looking for any sign of illness - even going so far as to inspect his poop, counting the number of times he urinated, and measuring the amount of water he was drinking. Extreme yes. But I take care of little creatures for a living. It's what I do.

Long story short, the dog is fine. He's still alive and well, shedding his golden locks all over my floor and stealing my socks from the laundry room. But there are definitely no more grapes in his future. Or onions, garlic, etc...

...or chocolate! But everyone knows about that one. Thankfully we are not allergic to chocolate. That would be very sad indeed, because we would not get to enjoy fantastic treats like this Chocolate-Chocolate Banana Bread. Chocolate and bananas are just two of those magical foods that just seem to go together so perfectly. I saw this drool-worthy bread posted on the blog Two Peas and Their Pod and I just couldn't resist making this out of the rotting bananas sitting on the counter. I served this for breakfast on Sunday because that was pretty much the only day we could eat it since we gave up sweets for Lent. The kids LOVED this. It was a great little treat and so good with a cup of coffee. Shake up your banana bread routine and give this one a try. So good!

Chocolate-Chocolate Banana Bread
from Two Peas and their Pod

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa (preferred, but regular cocoa powder is fine)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 large very ripe bananas  (1 1/2 cups mashed)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/4 cup canola, vegetable oil, or melted coconut oil
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or line the bottom with parchment and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork. Add the melted butter and oil and stir until combined. Stir in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, do not overmix or you will be sad! Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips over the top of the bread. Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean. Gooey chocolate is ok, but not wet, runny batter!

Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, lest it collapse when you try to remove it! Run a knife around the edges of the bread and carefully remove from the pan. Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack until slightly warm. Cut into slices and serve.