Recipe: Marbled-Chocolate Banana Bread

What's better than good ole banana bread? Banana bread swirled with chocolate banana bread, because in my book almost anything tastes better with chocolate. There were rotten bananas in the fruit basket yet again, and I had been good and made super-healthy banana bread the previous time. Thus, it was time splurge a little and try this Cooking Light recipe that doesn't taste so light. A little bit of chocolate mixed in with classic, sweet, moist banana bread was the perfect choice.

Marbling sounds scary, but it wasn't that tricky. You just take out a cup of basic banana bread batter and mix it with melted chocolate chips. Then you layer one batter with another in a bread pan and swirl it with a knife. And voila, pretty bread!

Marbled-Chocolate Banana Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add banana, eggs, and yogurt; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist.

Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until almost melted, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 cup batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined. Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Swirl batters together using a knife. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.