Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

I think I have a serious baking addiction on the weekends.

Is this a bad thing, you ask?

I love to spend my Saturday mornings in the kitchen, television tuned into The Food Network while I decide what sort of baking concoction I’m craving. Yesterday I made some mighty delicious Cinnamon Bun Scones via A Lovely Living.

But that just wasn’t enough to satisfy my baking itch. There’s just something almost relaxing about baking for me – I love the whole process of measuring and mixing and creating. Well yes, and the eating part, too. But truthfully, that’s almost secondary to the baking process. (I’m a bit geeky like that.)

Today, I decided to get rid a few of my past-their-prime bananas that I have stored in the freezer. Joe loves banana muffins and banana bread, so I figured I’d give the BEST Banana Cake Ever a whirl from a blogger I follow and really enjoy – Nurse Loves Farmer. (I’ve also been lucky to get to know Sarah, the woman behind Nurse Loves Farmer, via a new social media group we’re both a part of – Ask The Farmers, which I wrote about here!)

I made a few of my own tweaks – namely I added chocolate chips because, if I’m going to be honest here, both Joe and I can’t get enough chocolate chips in our banana bread. And I didn’t have the heavy cream on hand that the frosting called for, so I substituted this Brown Butter Frosting from The Recipe Critic. Plus I doubled the recipe to fit a 9×13 pan – I want to have extra to bring to the office tomorrow to share.

I think the result was amazing – moist cake that is ultra banana-y, with plenty of chocolate and yummy frosting. I have a feeling this will become a regular addition to my baking regimen; this truly was a delicious banana cake and I almost always have the ingredients on hand so it’s something I can just whip up on whim.

Recipe follows below – have a great start to your week!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

• 1-1/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, softened
• 1-1/2 cups mashed super ripe banana (about 4)
• 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. (or 350 F. if you are using a glass baking dish).
2. Using a mixer (or by hand, if you prefer), cream together sugar, sour cream, egg, and 2 tablespoons softened butter.
3. Add & mix mashed bananas and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
4. Add flour and baking soda; mix well.
5. Stir in chocolate chips and pour entire mixture into greased 9×13 pan.
6. Bake at 375 F. for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Recipe adapted from Nurse Loves Farmer’s BEST Banana Cake Ever.

Brown Better Frosting

• 1/2 c. butter
• 4 c. powdered sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp. milk

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat butter  in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling.  Let the butter turn a delicate brown and remove from heat immediately.
2. Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk.  Whisk together until smooth (it should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting).
3. Using a spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the warm cake (the frosting will be easier to spread while the bars are still warm).