Chocolate, Date & Banana Bread

It's no secret that making ethically responsible choices, as much as possible, about the food that I consume, is a subject which is dear to my heart, and is indeed one of the founding principles of this blog.  As such I regularly use Fair Trade products - they are always exceptionally good quality and Fair Trade principles are consistent with my own food philosophy.  So I was pretty excited a couple of weeks ago then, when a nice big hamper of gorgeous Fair Trade goodies turned up, along with an invitation to bake something delicious and join in this year's "The Big Fair Bake" event.

What you don't see in the photo, is a bunch of Fair Trade bananas, which, by the time they had traveled for a couple of days to get to me, were a bit riper than I like to eat them.  So it seemed inevitable that they would be included in my recipe.  I started thinking banana cake, but to be honest I generally prefer banana bread - it usually keeps well for several days, and makes a great snack or breakfast on the run.  Once I got to thinking about adding in some dates and dark chocolate, I knew this would elevate my regular banana bread to something really special.

Chocolate, Date & Banana Bread Recipe
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1/2 cup coconut oil  
1/2 cup Fair Trade organic cane sugar  
1 teaspoon vanilla extract  
2x eggs  
13/4 cups plain flour  
1 teaspoon baking powder  
1 teaspoon baking soda  
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3x medium-sized All-Good Fair Trade ripe bananas, mashed  
1/3 cup golden syrup
1 cup Trade Aid Medjool dates, finely chopped
80g Fair Trade Whittaker's Dark Ghana chocolate, roughly chopped  

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C (325 degrees F).

Lightly grease a 23cm x 13cm (9" x 5") loaf tin, and line with baking paper.

In a medium sized bowl mix together coconut oil and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Stir in the vanilla.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.  Add to the wet ingredients, and mix until just barely combined.

Add the mashed bananas, golden syrup, dates and chocolate, and once again mix until just combined - take care not to over mix.

Spoon mixture into the prepared tin, and bake for 60-65 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.  Allow to cool completely before slicing.

I will also be submitting this post to Sweet New Zealand.  Inspired by Alessandra Zecchini, and hosted this month by Libby at Ditch The Carbs, Sweet New Zealand is an event for all Kiwi bloggers (whether living at home or abroad), or all foreign bloggers living in New Zealand, to link up their sweet treats.