Ginger-tastic

I appear to have developed something of a crush on ginger. Ever since I made and subsequently devoured this awesome Gingerbread Cake I have been craving more ginger. I thought I could get my fix with this:

Which makes a very convincing gingerbread latte. In fact, I now prefer the gingerbread coffee/steamed milk/cinnamon and sugar concoction I brew up every morning to what Starbucks has to offer. But it turns out that the coffee isn't enough, so tonight I surfed around looking for something to further my ginger obsession. And I found it! Here. Chocolate banana gingerbread works on so many levels. One, it means I have something yummy to pack for school snack/lunches. Two, it's a loaf. As much as I loved my recent gingerbread cake triumph (yes, I'll go so far as to call it a triumph) I have this notion that gingerbread should be loafed rather than caked. Turns out, I was right. Chocolate banana gingerbread is gooo-d. It's still warm from the oven and between the boys and I, it's rapidly disappearing. And I have a feeling Chocolate Banana Gingerbread is the kind of loaf that just gets better as it cools. Oh yeah.

Chocolate Banana Gingerbread

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup molasses
2 medium bananas, mashed
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, salt, baking soda and spices in a bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and vanilla, and mix until pale yellow and smooth, about 3 minutes. Stir in molasses and mashed bananas. Add half of dry ingredients, just mixing until combined, then add buttermilk. Add remaining dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and pour batter in. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.