When my mom, my brother, and I met up with our aunt and cousins for our Disneyland vacation this past spring, we all stayed at the same hotel, almost directly across the street from Target. On the evening before our first day at the theme park, we headed across the street and stocked up on snacks.
We wanted to go on as many rides as possible… Which meant we wanted to avoid as many long concession stand lines as possible, too!
My brother packed nuts and peanut butter-filled pretzel bites in his backpack, my aunt grabbed granola bars to carry with her, and Mom and I both tucked squares of dark chocolate into our purses. Thank goodness the weather cooperated and stayed relatively cool (at least for our California spring standards!) so our chocolate didn’t melt!
I also brought along a piece of fruit each day. I opted for a big juicy orange on our first two days, but since I forgot to buy a third for our final day, I gently tucked a yellow banana into the top of my purse on that last morning.
After riding multiple roller coasters (my brother’s favorite rides and mine, too!), including the Matterhorn, Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Space Mountain, I opened my purse and reached for my banana snack…
But instead of the bright yellow, perfectly ripe banana I expected, I pulled out one that was completely brown, bruised, and mushy. It must have gotten squashed while rattling about on the floor in between my feet during those roller coaster rides!
Since the banana mush looked perfect for baking banana bread — but definitely not eating (I’d need a spoon for that!) — I laughed, pitched it, and reached back into my purse for a square of chocolate instead.
While cleaning up my computer files last week, I stumbled across the folder with hundreds of photos from our Disneyland trip. I smiled as I scrolled through them, happy memories floating through my mind… And then chuckled aloud when I spotted the pictures from mid-morning on our last day where I realized just how mushy my banana was.
That same afternoon, I remembered I had a couple of extremely ripe bananas currently sitting on my counter…
So I decided to turn them into this Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread! It’s incredibly moist and has a delicious balance of rich chocolate and sweet fruit flavors (a tribute to the two snacks I brought along on that final day in Disneyland!).
This chocolate banana bread recipe is also easy to make — no mixer required! And even with decadent morsels of mini chocolate chips sprinkled throughout every bite (and an optional but highly recommended chocolate drizzle on top!), each slice is 115 calories!
Continue reading & see the rest! ›› Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread
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