Rancho La Puerta Spa Chocolate Banana Bread
Rancho La Puerta Spa is the original and oldest Destination Spa in North America, founded by Deborah Szekely in 1940 in Baja, California Mexico, just south of the US Mexican border, near San Diego. Rancho La Puerta is called the “birthplace of spa cuisine” and deservedly so — it’s renowned for freshly picked produce and nutritious natural foods low in fat, sodium, and refined flour and sugar — while high in energy, fiber, and complex carbohydrates.
Lori of the popular RecipeGirl blog agreed to share her adaptation of the spa’s popular Chocolate Banana Bread recipe with us (pictured). She tells her readers: “This is a healthy, spa-version of chocolate-flavored banana bread… really different, I thought. I liken it to an energy treat you might try before a big hike. My family thought it was great!”
Ingredients
- 10 ounces pitted dried prunes
- ¾ cup bananas about 2 medium
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (low sodium)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ cup banana chips chopped coarsely
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Lightly butter a 5×9-inch loaf pan and line bottom with a piece of parchment paper, cut to fit; set aside.
- In a small saucepan, bring prunes and 2 cups of water to a boil over high heat.
- Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until prunes are very soft, about 20 minutes; drain.
- In a food processor, whirl prunes and bananas until very smooth.
- Add eggs to fruit mixture and whirl to combine.
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda.
- Stir in fruit mixture until evenly moistened.
- Stir in banana chips and chocolate chips.
- Scrape the thick batter into prepared pan and spread to level.
- Bake bread until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out a little chocolatey but not gooey, 40 to 50 minutes.
- Loosen bread from pan with a knife and invert onto a rack.
- Remove parchment.
- Turn bread right-side-up and let cool at least 1 hour before slicing.