Cardamom and Tea

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

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This double chocolate banana bread leans right into dessert territory. There’s cocoa in the batter, melty chocolate chips throughout, and you can even add a handful of chopped walnuts for a bit more dimension. The best part is that you don’t need any fancy ingredients. Just grab a few overripe bananas and some pantry staples, and you’re well on your way.

Jump to the recipe if you’re ready to start baking, or read on for a few tips for success.

double chocolate banana bread
double chocolate banana bread

Tips for chocolate banana bread success:

1) Consider lining your loaf pan.

I usually skip this step (living dangerously in the world of quick breads). If you’re worried about your chocolate banana bread sticking, use a parchment sling.

2) Let it cool.

It’s tempting to cut right into that beautiful loaf of chocolate banana bread, but cooling helps the crumb set and makes for cleaner slices. You don’t have to let it cool completely, but give it at least 30 minutes or so.

3) Make it vegan:

This recipe is already pretty close to vegan. It’s made with olive oil instead of butter. To keep it fully plant-based, use vegan chocolate chips and a one-for-one vegan egg substitute (e.g., Just Egg or something like it). I haven’t tested this loaf with flax or chia eggs, so I can’t vouch for those. It might work, but I’d stick with a vegan egg replacer if you want to be sure.

4) Do not overmix!

This is the most important tip for making a really good loaf of any sort of cake or quick bread. Once the dry and wet ingredients combine, use just enough swipes to bring it all together. If you overmix, it will taste tough and dry.

double chocolate banana bread

I’ve got a growing collection of banana bread recipes—check out a couple of my other favorites:

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Double Chocolate Banana Bread

slices of double chocolate banana bread
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  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 60 minutes
  • Total Time: 70 minutes
  • Yield: 6 to 8 slices

Ingredients

  • 1 cup [240 g] mashed banana from about 3 very overripe bananas
  • 1/2 cup [105 g] extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 large eggs*
  • 2/3 cup [130 g] sugar
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 1/4 cups [160 g] all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup [30 g] dutch process** cocoa powder
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/3 cup [85 g] chocolate chips (plus more for sprinkling)
  • 1/2 cup [50 g] coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F [180°C].
  2. Grease an 8 x 4 inch [20 x 10 cm] loaf pan.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the mashed bananas together with the olive oil until very well combined. Add the eggs, sugar, and salt, and whisk together until completely incorporated.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder.***
  5. Add the wet mixture and the chocolate chips and walnuts (if using) to the flour mixture. Stir to combine, but do not over-mix (stop mixing as soon as there are no dry pockets of flour).
  6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Top with a few extra chocolate chips (if using).
  7. Bake for about 1 hour. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or wooden skewer into the center of the loaf. If it comes out with batter, it needs more time, but if it comes out with just some crumbs, it’s ready to take out.
  8. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

Notes

* See note above recipe on turning this into vegan chocolate banana bread.

** If you only have natural cocoa powder (e.g., “Hershey’s 100% cacao natural unsweetened”), you can still make this recipe, but you’ll need to add baking soda. Add 1/4 tsp baking soda to the recipe, use 1/3 cup [30 g] natural unsweetened cocoa powder, and keep everything else the same (including the 3/4 tsp baking powder).

*** If you want to save on dishes, place a fine mesh sieve over a paper towel and add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder to the sieve. Sift the dry ingredients directly onto the wet ingredients (and don’t forget the dust that filtered onto the paper towel too).

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Lemony Red Lentil Soup

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Bright, lemony, and big on flavor, this red lentil soup comes together with super basic ingredients and cooks in under 30 minutes (with very little active time). Known as shorbat adas in Arabic, it’s the kind of recipe you can take in a few different directions. Traditionally, it’s served silky smooth, but you can totally leave it textured. You can blend your own spices or spice it simply with store-bought curry powder. Any way you slice it, the result is always far more delicious than the effort you put into making it.

If you’re ready to hit the ground running, jump to the recipe, or read on for some helpful tips for success.

shorbat adas / lentil soup
shorbat adas / lentil soup
shorbat adas / lentil soup

Tips for for making the best red lentil soup

1) Taste your stock before salting.

Stocks vary, but any will work here. Some stocks are intensely salty, others totally sodium-free. Start with less salt, taste, and adjust as you go. Better than bullion or even stock cubes will all work great here, as long as you season it to taste. At the end of the day, what really matters in shorbat adas is that bright, lemony finish.

2) The spices are flexible—use curry powder or blend your own.

A jar of supermarket curry powder is more than enough for this recipe. But if you feel like it, you could blend your own curry powder. Or you could just use the spices in the notes at the bottom of this red lentil soup recipe to make a quick version of curry powder.

3) One non-negotiable: use fresh lemon juice, not bottled.

This is the one non-negotiable. Freshly squeezed lemon juice is what gives shorbat adas its signature lift. And that’s true for just about any Middle Eastern lentil soup. It’s totally fine to use store-bought stock and a very average curry powder, but make sure you use fresh lemons.

4) Make it ahead or meal prep it.

Red lentil soup holds up really well in the fridge for at least 3 to 5 days (depending on how salty and lemony you make it). If it thickens too much, just add a splash of water or stock when reheating. It also freezes well. Just make sure you batch it in single or double servings to make for easy reheating.

shorbat adas / lentil soup
shorbat adas / lentil soup
shorbat adas / lentil soup
shorbat adas / lentil soup

more fun ways to use red lentils

Got red lentils left over after making this red lentil soup? Here are some other ideas for using them up:

  • Mai from Almond and fig uses red lentils to make a really, really creamy hummus-ish dip.
  • Alemtshaye Yigezu’s misr wot (Ethiopian red lentil stew) is another stew that uses red lentils, but in a way that is completely distinct from shorbat adas.
  • Izzah from Tea for Turmeric has a famous masoor dal recipe that you’ve got to try.

ideas for using other varieties of lentils

If you’re looking for more ideas for cooking with other varieties of lentils, my two favorites are my mom’s lentils and rice for an easy weeknight meal or mujadara for something a bit fancier.

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Lemony Red Lentil Soup

shorbat adas / red lentil soup
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  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 2 large carrots, sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed through a press or finely minced
  • 3 Tbsp [20 g] yellow curry powder*
  • 1 1/2 cups [260 g] red lentils, sorted and rinsed
  • 2 quarts [1.9 liters] stock or broth**
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/4 cup [60 g] lemon juice (from about 1 to 2 lemons)
  • Optional: parsley or cilantro for garnish (fresh or dried), extra lemon wedges, and rice or bread on the side

Instructions

  1. Heat a stockpot over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add about 2 Tbsp olive oil, onion, and carrot, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they have softened, but not caramelized (about 8 to 10 minutes).
  2. Push the onions and carrots to the side of the pot and add to the center about 1 Tbsp olive oil as well as the garlic and curry powder. Stir the center for about 1 minute over medium heat, and then stir everything together.
  3. Add the lentils and stock to the pot and bring everything to a boil over high heat. Once it comes to a boil, taste the stock and add some salt if necessary.*** Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes, until the lentils are still whole, but very soft and slightly falling apart. Optionally purée with an immersion blender (or in a regular blender using this technique) until silky smooth.
  4. Stir in the lemon juice right before serving. Optionally, garnish with parsley or cilantro, and serve with lemon wedges and rice or bread on the side.

Notes

* Instead, feel free to use 2 tsp ground coriander, 1 Tbsp turmeric, 2 tsp ground cumin, and 1 1/2 tsp ground fenugreek.

** Use either chicken stock or vegetable stock.

*** If your stock has a lot of salt already, you may not need to add much (or any at all). If it is low sodium, you may need to add quite a bit. It all depends, so keep tasting while you season.

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2025 updates (recipe originally published 14 Feb 2018):

  • This red lentil soup recipe used to call for individual spices with the option to substitute a pre-made spice blend. Since publishing this recipe, I realized that home cooks are more likely to have the spice blend than each individual spice. So I flipped things so that the spice blend is in the body of the recipe and the individual spices are given as an option for substitution in the notes.
  • I used to say “3 Tbsp to 1/4 cup lemon juice” but I’ve since made 1/4 cup the default. 1/4 cup is really the bare minimum amount (with more added at the table). Shorbat adas is supposed to be tangy and lemony.
  • I also changed it to slicing the ingredients instead of finely chopping them. If you blend it, it doesn’t matter, but if you don’t blend it, the chunkier veggies are more aesthetically pleasing than finely diced ones. (I prefer blending it)
  • Finally, I tested the recipe with metric weight measurements and added metric system measurements as an option.
  • Oh and I rewrote the info before the recipe to be more relevant, updated the photos because the old ones were uglyyy (sorry to 2018 me) and added a video.

Otherwise, the recipe is the same as it ever was! These are mostly small changes for convenience and better options.