Staring at my pile of over-ripe bananas, some sort of banana bread/banana muffin idea was tumbling about in my head. I spotted an interesting combination of flavors in Nigella’s book, How to Be a Domestic Goddess. It was cupcakes made with banana, dried cherries, and white chocolate. Not wanting cupcakes at the moment, I married the idea with Nick Malgieri’s Banana Bread and out popped this baby. I didn’t think banana bread could get better, and with white chocolate no less? I’m not even a big fan of white chocolate, but here it melts into the bread and adds a wonderful creaminess that makes bananas even more comforting.

piece of banana bread

White Chocolate, Banana, Cherry Bread
~about 8-10 servings

  • 1 3/4 cup + 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup white chocolate chunks
  • 3/4 cup dried cherries (no added sugar)
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 4 ounces sour cream
  • 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cup mashed over-ripe banana (mash with a fork)

Instructions –

1. Position rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x5x3 loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

2. Stir together 1 3/4 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, toss together white chocolate, dried cherries, and 1/2 tablespoon flour.

white chocolate and dried cherries

3. Place the brown sugar in a large mixing bowl and add eggs one at a time, stirring with a rubber spatula. Switch to a whisk and whisk for a few seconds to lighten. Whisk in oil in a stream, then whisk in sour cream and vanilla.

4. Use a rubber spatula to fold in half the flour mixture. Stir in the mashed bananas. Fold in the remaining flour. Fold in white chocolate/cherry mixture. Scrape into prepare pan. Smooth the top and bake for 70-80 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

White Chocolate, Cherry, Banana Bread top

5. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove to wire rack and cool upright. Remove parchment after completely cool.

White Chocolate, Cherry, Banana Bread

Despite coating the dried cherries in flour, they still sank. This is most likely because they are really big (and heavy). One way to remedy this is to chop them up. The other is to eliminate them. I think this recipe would be just as wonderful as just a White Chocolate Banana Bread.

For more ideas on using up over-ripe banana, check out my Banana Crumb Muffins (one is with dried cranberries, one is with fresh blueberries).

posted by jessica at 03:13 PM Filed under Desserts, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.