According to some sources, the famed discoverer of America, Christopher Columbus, initially showed no interest in the sacred tree of the local tribes. In fact, the renowned European navigator mistook the unfamiliar fruits for goat droppings. Meanwhile, the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans used cocoa beans as currency: they paid taxes and services with them, and exchanged them for other goods or clothing. The value of this form of payment was so high that a dozen cocoa beans could buy a rabbit, and a hundred could purchase a slave. The price of cocoa fruits was determined by the challenges associated with harvesting them. According to a decree from 1555, one Spanish real was equivalent to 140 cocoa beans. Cocoa money circulated in the central states of South America until the early 19th century. So let’s honor cocoa and prepare healthy, delicious, and truly valuable dishes like this one.
Ingredients (for 8 servings): 1 cup all-purpose flour; ½ cup sugar; 2 eggs; 2 bananas; 2 tablespoons cocoa powder; ¼ cup milk; ½ teaspoon baking soda; 1/8 cup refined oil; ¼ teaspoon salt.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, sugar, and chopped bananas using a blender. In a separate bowl, mix and sift the dry ingredients—flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Combine the wet and dry mixtures, gradually adding the milk at the end. Mix everything one last time and pour it into a greased baking pan.
Bake the banana cocoa bread for 40 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 °C (350 °F).
Once the bread is out of the oven, let it cool down. When it has completely cooled, you can serve the baked good at the table.
Life Hack
Since banana bread is a type of “quick bread,” it uses baking soda or baking powder for leavening instead of yeast. The bread will rise faster with baking soda or powder than with yeast.