Last October, Jesse and I went to New York City for a fantastic 10 day vacation/adventure. During our trip, I dragged him to way too many food stores, kitchen gadget shops, restaurants, cafes and so so so many bakeries. I don’t think he minded in the least, but he certainly likes to bug me about my obsession with food and cooking. One of the bakeries I dragged him to was Fat Witch Bakery in Chelsea Market. What a cool place! They serve every type of brownie you could possibly imagine. Row after row of delicious bars – lemon bars, coconut bars and the richest of rich chocolate brownies. Yum!
For Christmas, I received the Fat Witch Brownies recipe book. This past weekend, we were stuck at home, as poor Jesse had his wisdom teeth out and was not really up to venturing around town. Seeing as I had a few bananas turning brown on the counter and a bit of time to myself, I decided to try making these banana bread brownies. They were delicious! A true blend of moist banana bread and rich chocolate brownies. Thankfully they were soft enough that Jesse was able to test one out too. I think he was tired of eating soup and ice cream all weekend. *hehe* The brownies were a welcome treat.
Hope you all have a fantastic week! :) I’ll be back later this week with two new recipes, a give-away and an announcement regarding the blog.
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) of unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup of semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 3/4 cups of very ripe bananas, mashed (about 3 to 4 bananas)
- 1/2 cup of granulated white sugar
- 3 large eggs, slightly beaten
- 1 and 3/4 cups of unbleached white flour
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 cup of coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
Note: these brownies can be made vegan by substituting vegan butter, vegan chocolate chips and 3 flax eggs (or the equivalent of 3 egg replacers).
Method
1. Grease a 9 X 9-inch baking pan with butter. Dust with flour and tap out the excess. Preheat oven to 350’F.
2. Melt the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat once just melted and set aside to cool.
3. In another bowl, mix the vanilla and sugar into the mashed bananas with a fork. Add the beaten eggs and continue mixing until everything is well combined.
4. Measure the flour and salt and sift together directly into the banana batter. Mix until well combined. If desired, stir in the chopped walnuts.
5. Using a spatula, fold in two-thirds of the cooled chocolate mixture into the banana batter until it is just incorporated. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking pan. Drizzle the remainder of the chocolate mixture on the top. Move the spatula in and through the batter to create streaks of chocolate.
6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean and/or only with dry crumbs. Remove from oven and cool on a rack for 1 hour. Cut just before serving.
Yield: 12 to 16 large brownies
Source: Fat Witch Brownies by Patricia Helding with Bryna Levin
What a wonderful post! I love brownies they are sinfully delicious! I hope Jesse is feeling better, having wisdom teeth removed is horrible!
Can’t wait for the news :D
Brownies are so yummy :) I don’t make them often, as I don’t trust myself around them. *hehe* Jesse is feeling better today. He is still an adorable looking chipmunk though! *hehe*
i’ve never heard of banana bread brownies before, but they sound delicious! (and look amaaaaazing!)
and i am SO EXCITED to hear about the giveaway and blog announcement. such a tease. i want to know nowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
*hehe* Sorry for being a tease! It’s nothing too monumental. Just a direction I’d like to take the blog :) I’ve got two giveaways planned! I’m so excited. I’ve wanted to do one for a while. *hehe*
Do you think you could help me develop a gluten free version of this one? :)
yes!
ohhh Fat Witch! i live about 2 blocks from Chelsea Market — so delicious! and your brownies are so creative! i LOVE that they combine banana bread and brownies! INCREDIBLE!!
I am so jealous! Chelsea Market and that entire area is the coolest area ever! Jesse and I are thinking of going back to NYC in October this year. We loved it so much. :)
Banana bread plus brownies is genius!
They were pretty tasty. Each bite tastes like either banana bread or brownies. So good!
They sound soo good,what more could you want. Choc. And my favorite banana bread…..hope Jesse is feeling better…..
Jesse is slowly feeling better. Sure hoped my banana bread brownies helped :)
Oh dear lord! Courtney, you are speaking my language! Banana Bread Brownies! What a delightful idea! They look absolutely sinful- Jesse is a lucky, lucky guy to have these while his mouth heels. :-)
Jesse has decided he will get teeth pulled every week if it means I bake JUST for him. Often times I bake for others and he only gets a little bit. *hah*
oh my goodness! I’ve never would of thought of a banana bread brownie…looks so good!! I need to make soon; I have some bananas to use! YUM!!! Thank you Courtney! :D
I know hey!? I had to try these out when I saw the recipe! Such a neat idea to combine the two famous squares into one amazing, mouth watering treat! :)
Umm…I have some frozen bananas calling out to be made into this recipe!!! And I totally hear you on touring around bakeries and food stores while on vacation. I do the same thing! My husband is incredibly patient with it. :)
I love going into each and every bakery! I love the sights, the smells, the set up. I love seeing how each bakery does things differently. And of course, I love taste testing at each place too. *hehe*
Regular brownies are too chocolatey for me but banana bread brownies are right up my alley! Love this idea!
You’d love these, as they only have a hint of cocoa flavour. I’d say they are more banana bread flavour than chocolate. But they are moist and fudgy like brownies. Yum!
Oh my! I didn’t do any of my regular blog reading over the weekend and what a mistake that was! I think I just started drooling…These look like an instant “chipmunk cheek” cure!
*hehe* He was the cutest little chipmunk ever!
You have to try these out. I was super impressed. Such a yummy treat! :)
these are genius! brownies and banana bread in one amazing treat? simply awesome!
Two of the best desserts in one! :) Love the combination – every bite is different…sometimes more banana bread than brownie. The next, more brownie than banana bread. It’s SO good. *hehe*
What an amazing recipe! I hope Jesse is feeling better, I am sure you are taking good care of him – wait of course you are you made brownies!
I can’t wait to hear your announcement (tease ;) ) and the giveaways – YAY!
Jesse is slowly feeling better and looking less like an adorable chipmunk. *hehe* He said I was a good nurse all weekend. Mission accomplished. Now, he better take me out to dinner. *hah*
Oh man, had to pin these b/c they look amazing … Enjoying your site so I’m nominating you for my Illuminating Blogger Award for informative, illuminating blog content. I know not everyone participates in blog awards but I hope you’ll at least check it out because it’s a great way to discover new blogs and meet new web friends. If you’re interested in participating, you can check out the details at my site … foodstoriesblog dot com & then click on “Illuminating Blogger Award Site” in the upper right-hand corner … Either way, hope you’re having a great weekend!