I wake up on Saturdays super excited to get out of bed to start my day. I look forward to my long runs all week (sick, right?) and Saturday mornings just can’t come soon enough. There is so much potential in the day and the weekend ahead and I can’t wait to take advantage of it.

Fast forward 24 hours to Sunday. No long run excitement. Evil Monday looms a day closer and my ambitious to-do list is far from complete.

Usually I enjoy what I can on Sunday because it’s one of the few times Will and I have during the week to hang out. Our schedules are very opposite. I work during the day and am home at night. He is home during the day and at class during the evenings. Sadly this Sunday is dedicated to finishing his thesis so I’ve been feeling a little aimless.

The gloomy weather hasn’t helped so today has felt a little blah.

Anni can agree. Although she’s probably feeling a little blah because of that half slice of pizza she stealthily stole from an unsuspecting Will this morning.

It’s a gloomy day. What’s a gal to do?

Bake!

My last couple attempts with baking have been a little lacking. But when veganizing another recipe, one has to be prepared for failure sometimes.

Today was the reward for sticking it out. Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread! And it turned out as good as anything with those three components should.

We have this amazing handy-dandy espresso machine my mom gave me last year and I wanted to use up some of the decaf we have had sitting around for the past six months. Same flavor, right?

So I cruised around the blogosphere for a bit but nothing really caught my eye. 4 eggs and two sticks of butter for one loaf of bread? I’m laughing at you and leaving your blog. Maybe your body can handle that but mine cringes at the thought.

I found this recipe from Bright-Eyed Baker and finally (finally!) had something to work with. Below is my version, which is identical save for the veganizations and subs made for what was in my pantry. I also decided last minute (as in I had already add the flour to the bowl) that I wanted to add some cocoa powder so I scooped the four back out and added my substitution.

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 TSP baking soda
• 1 TSP salt
• 3 large bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
•  1/2 stick vegan butter
• 1 shot of espresso + enough soy milk to bring liquid to 1/4 C
• 1 flax egg (1 TBS ground flax + 2 TBS warm water)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

3. In a stand mixer, combine butter and sugar and beat until smooth. Add flax egg, mashed bananas and milk.

Appetizing, huh?

4. Add in dry ingredients in three batches, mixing and scraping down sides of bowl between each.

5. Fold in chocolate chips.

Now I didn’t have any chocolate chips so I cut up a milk chocolate easter bunny Will’s mom sent. Desperate times. But it turned out just fine and the milk chocolate pieces are a nice surprise. If you have the option, though, I would definitely use dark chocolate because the espresso will compliment that flavor the best.

6. Pour batter into a greased 9X5 pan and bake for 55 minutes or until a pick comes out clean.

It’s best to let it sit for a while but I was impatient and cut right in.

Wow. This turned out so well! The flavors are very deep and it takes a few bites to assess them all. This isn’t a very sweet banana bread so the espresso makes the chocolate very rich as opposed to sugary. To make it slightly sweeter without increasing the sugar, you could use very ripe bananas. I only used one extremely ripe banana with two that were pretty yellow.

I have this really bad habit of not trusting prescribed cooking times so a lot of my baked goods come out too doughy in the middle. This is also another side effect of vegan baking. But this bread was spared that fate and has a nice crusty top with a fully cooked, chewy inside. If you like chocolate, this is for you.

I may or may not have had three slices already today 😉

Enjoy!