Michael

Whole Wheat Chocolate Poppyseed Banana Bread

A dense, chocolatey whole wheat banana bread with poppy seeds and walnuts. No refined flour — naturally sweet from ripe bananas with modest added sugar.

Serves 1 loaf Oven Vegetarian Breakfast

Ingredients

Dry

325g (2½ cups) whole wheat flour
45g (½ cup) unsweetened dark cocoa powder
50g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
50g (¼ cup) brown sugar, packed
18g (2 tbsp) poppy seeds
12g (2 tsp) baking soda
3g (½ tsp) salt
2g (1 tsp) allspice (optional)

Wet

450–500g overripe bananas (4 medium-large), peeled and mashed
160g canola oil
60g sour cream (or plain yogurt or applesauce)
60g milk (or water)
13g (1 tbsp) vanilla extract
2 large eggs (100g)

Mix-ins

115g (1 cup) walnuts, roughly chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 175°C / 350°F. Grease and line a 23×13cm (9×5 inch) loaf pan.
Dry ingredients. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and allspice (if using). Stir in poppy seeds. Set aside.
Wet ingredients. In a large bowl, mash the bananas well. Whisk in oil, both sugars, sour cream, milk, vanilla, and eggs until well combined.
Combine. Fold dry ingredients into wet until just combined — do not overmix. Fold in walnuts.
Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60–80 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. The wide time range reflects variation in banana moisture and oven accuracy — start checking at 60 minutes.
Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.