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Baking recipe · from the recipe book

Toasted Walnut Mocha Banana Bread with Cinnamon Swirl

A tender, cocoa-tinged banana loaf with a gentle coffee note, studded with chocolate chips and loaded with toasted walnuts, plus a crunchy cinnamon-walnut swirl and top.

Toasted Walnut Mocha Banana Bread with Cinnamon Swirl

Ingredients

  • 1 cup chopped130 gWalnutstoasted and chopped
  • 3 medium360 gBananavery ripe, mashed
  • 1⅔ cups200 gAll-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup20 gUnsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1⅛ tsp5 gBaking soda
  • ¾ tsp3 gBaking powder
  • ½ tsp3 gSalt
  • 1½ tsp4 gGround cinnamon
  • ⅔ cup packed130 gBrown sugarpacked
  • ⅓ cup75 gCanola oil
  • 2 large100 gEggsat room temperature
  • ¼ cup (60 ml)60 gPlain kefir, low-fat
  • 1 shot30 gEspressocooled
  • 1¼ tsp5 gVanilla extract
  • ⅔ cup100 gSemisweet chocolate chips

Steps

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with parchment.
  2. Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for 8 minutes until fragrant; cool, then chop.
  3. Make the swirl: in a small bowl, mix 30 g of the brown sugar, all of the cinnamon and one third of the toasted walnuts. Set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, the unsweetened cocoa powder, the baking soda, the baking powder and the salt until the cocoa is evenly blended with no lumps.
  5. In a large bowl, whisk the mashed banana with the remaining 100 g of brown sugar, the canola oil, the eggs, the kefir, the cooled espresso and the vanilla until smooth.
  6. Fold the flour-and-cocoa mixture into the banana mixture until just a few streaks remain, then fold in the chocolate chips and half of the remaining walnuts (one third of the total).
  7. Spread half of the batter in the pan and sprinkle half of the cinnamon-walnut swirl mixture over it. Top with the rest of the batter, then scatter the remaining half of the swirl mixture and the last third of the walnuts over the top.
  8. Bake 55 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean (a little melted chocolate is fine). Tent with foil after 40 minutes if the top darkens too fast.
  9. Cool in the pan 15 minutes, then lift out and cool on a rack at least 45 minutes before cutting into 12 slices.

Food safety: Don't taste raw dough or batter: raw flour and raw eggs can carry germs.

Contains: Milk, Egg, Tree nuts, Gluten. Some brands contain soy.

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Saved in the Every Helping recipe book on October 24, 2026.

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