chocolate chip ginger banana bread

we made a banana cake. we baked it in a loaf pan and used white whole wheat flour, so it had a slightly sturdier crumb, but don't be fooled by the name--this is a cake through and through. studded with pockets of oozy chocolate and sweetly spicy candied ginger (i'm so predictable), dense and moist, this is hands-down dessert fare. what's more, it's stupidly easy to make and impossible to stop eating--you might double the recipe and keep a second loaf squirreled away in your freezer for a rainy day.

note: if you want to serve this to guests for dessert, you might bake it in a cake pan (shortening the baking time as needed), sprinkle it liberally with turbinado sugar right before it goes in the oven, and serve it warm, in wedges, topped with flops of unsweetened (maybe even boozy?) whipped cream. i'm just sayin'.
chocolate chip ginger banana bread
adapted from orangette
makes one 9" loaf

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 ripe medium-size bananas
• 3 tbsps milk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (i used white whole wheat)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• roughly chopped candied ginger, to taste (i used about 1/3 cup)*

*if candied ginger is very tough or difficult to chop, stick it in the oven as it preheats for a few minutes to soften it up.

preheat oven to 350°F. grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan with butter and set aside.

in a large mixing bowl, cream sugar, egg, and butter. in a separate bowl, mash bananas; then mix with milk.

in another separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. add flour mixture to butter mixture in three parts, alternating with banana-milk mixture in two parts, stirring by hand until just combined. stir in chocolate chips and ginger.

turn batter into loaf pan, smoothing top with the back of a spoon, and bake for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. allow to cool for a few minutes, then remove bread from pan and cool on a wire rack.