Banana-Orange Bread with Chocolate Chips

At any given point in time, my freezer would have at least 2 frozen over-ripened bananas that my husband would have tossed in upon spotting any banana with more than 5 brown-black spots. He is finicky about having only pristine looking flawless yellow bananas. I, on the other hand, love ripe bananas. But before I can get to them, they are thrown into the freezer and replaced with a fresh batch. So, I usually thaw the bananas and add them to smoothies along with orange and strawberries. I also frequently bake banana bread with those mushy bananas. Since it had been a really long time since I made a batch of banana bread, I thought (against my better judgment) of just baking.

Coming fresh out of making orange-chocolate chip ice-cream, the smell of oranges was still lingering in the kitchen and in my mind. And since I love oranges and bananas together, in lieu of adding those two fruits together in a smoothie, I decided to mix them together in the bread. And chocolate chips never hurt anyone or anything, right? Flecked with orange zest, moist with juice, and dotted with gooey chocolate chips, this is a flavorful, robust bread.

So, here it is - a small twist to my unfailing trusty recipe.

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups self-rising flour (I had to clear this out from the pantry; self rising flour is mixed with baking powder, so if using all-purpose flour, separately add a leavening agent - such as 2 teaspoons baking soda)
2. 1.25 - 1.5 cups sugar (I added 1.25 cups)
3. 4 over ripe bananas (thaw, if frozen)
4. The juice and zest of two whole oranges (about 3/4 cup of juice)
5. 2 eggs, lightly beaten
6. 1.5 sticks unsalted butter, melted
7. 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. Butter and flour a 9 inches by 5 inches loaf pan and wrap the sides of the pan (not the bottom) with aluminum foil so that the edges don't burn (this bread bakes for a long time, so you don't want the edges to bake faster and burn)
3. Beat or blend the bananas to a fine pulp (don't add any water). Add melted butter and sugar mix well until smooth.
4. Add the lightly beaten eggs and mix well. Add orange juice and zest and mix well.
5. Add the flour and mix gently until well incorporated. Finally sprinkle in the chocolate chips and gently fold into the batter
6. Transfer batter into the loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 15-20 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean
7. Cool on a cooling-rack for 15 minutes and then loosen the edges and flip onto a plate. 

Serve with some whipped cream or chocolate drizzle.