This quick bread is so moist you don’t need anything to go with it. (Still, that shouldn’t stop you from serving it with some good quality Irish butter, if you’d like.) It’s a delicious sweet treat that’s perfect for ending a fast, celebrating the season and kicking off a sweet new year.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 ripe bananas, mashed well

3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Pinch ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus extra

Sanding sugar (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a large loaf pan and then coat inside with around 1 tablespoon sugar, tapping out an excess (this is instead of flour).

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla. Add mashed banana and pumpkin puree.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in 2 or 3 batches. Fold in chocolate chips using a spatula.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Add a handful of additional chocolate chips on top and sanding sugar if desired.

Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. Allow to cool 10 minutes, then gently remove from pan.