i'd rather be baking

My sister and I have a Starbucks habit. I was going to call it a tradition, but habit is definitely more accurate. You might even call it a bad one. We really like it there. It’s fair to say you’ll rarely find us together without a sugary-sweet coffee drink or two.

And on the (admittedly fairly frequent) occasions in which we can justify it, we buy a hunk of their delicious banana chocolate coffee cake. Sometimes two. In fact, said cake has been known to serve as birthday breakfast. She’s even been known to flirt with unsuspecting baristas over it. And hey, it worked one time.

When I made this version last week, I called Ryan almost immediately to tell him that I was bringing it to his office. I was legitimately afraid I’d eat the entire thing. And that weekend when we stopped in at a Starbucks for a midday perk, I again bought a slice just to confirm what I’d instantly suspected: this is so much better.

I’m not sure I can adequately express how good this tastes. It’s moist and dense, with just the right amount of sweetness and a cinnamon-laced crunch on top. My sister (along with my parents) is coming into town next weekend and I can’t wait for her to try it. Plus then I get to eat it again.

Chocolate Chip Banana Coffee Cake
Adapted from Bon Appetit via No Tea After 12

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
1 egg
1 1/3 cup over-ripe bananas, mashed*
3 tablespoons buttermilk**

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or spray an 8×8 inch square baking pan.

In a small bowl, combine chocolate chips, brown sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon; set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift (or whisk briskly) together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, or the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter, sugar, and egg until light and fluffy. Add in the bananas and buttermilk and beat again until well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet gradually and mix until well combined. Do not overmix if you want the cake to stay soft!

Spread half of the batter on the bottom of the cake pan. Sprinkle half of the chocolate and walnut mixture over the batter. Spread the remaining half of the batter out into the pan and sprinkle with the remaining chocolate mixture.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until a tester comes out clean.

*I used four small bananas and ended up with about 1 1/2 cups. This worked perfectly for me and may have made the cake a bit more moist!

**I may have used approximately 2 1/2 tablespoons regular milk with a couple squeezes of lemon juice stirred in. Shh. I’d say plain yogurt would work here as well.

High-Altitude Notes: Reduce baking soda and powder to 1/2 teaspoon each and bake at 375°F for 35-40 minutes.

Lightened Version: Reduce sugar to 1/2 cup and butter to 1/4 cup. Increase banana to 1 3/4 cup. It’s still super delicious!