Thursday 12 July 2012

Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Raspberry M&M Banana Bread!


Well that was a mouthful! This recipe came about after I drooled at this Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Banana Bread and bookmarked it away for a rainy day...and then a few weeks ago I was gifted these awesome Raspberry & Dark Chocolate M&M's from American Soda and I knew what had to be done! 


Bananas? check...Fresh Raspberries? check....Raspberry & Dark Chocolate M&M's? check! 
Could this banana bread be any better?! I think not


The M&M's made lovely little gooey pools of melting chocolate surrounded by bursts of red and pink colour from their candy coating, and then the raspberries swirled their way through the banana bread mixture - it made for a quite a visually pleasing loaf as well as being a taste bud pleaser!

My mother in law declared it the best cake she had ever eaten! 

It certainly made a very delicious after dinner treat, and of course just like any banana bread it is best served warm with lashings of butter! 


Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Raspberry M&M Banana Bread:
Serves 12
Adapted from Recipe Boy

2 cups plain flour
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup caster sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed over ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
1/3 cup plain low fat yoghurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate raspberry M&M's
1 cup halved raspberries, tossed in 1 tbsp plain flour

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Grease loaf pan with butter.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
In the bowl of a freestanding mixer, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until well blended (about a minute).  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the banana, yoghurt and vanilla; beat until blended.  Stir in the flour mixture with a spatula - do not overmix.  Stir in the M&M's and then gently stir in the raspberries so they don't break up.  

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.  If you want to sprinkle additional raspberries and M&M's over the top of the batter before putting it in the oven you can.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.  

Eat, and enjoy!

I'm entering this into bookmarked recipes hosted by Tinned Tomatoes and initiated by Ruth's Kitchen Experiments.



Disclosure: American Soda provided me with these complimentary products.  However my participation was voluntary, and all opinions and views expressed are my own.

27 comments:

  1. Oh, I am loving the sound of this bread!!

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  2. Ooh raspberry M&M's never heard of them before but they sound tasty. Looks like a good idea using them in a cake instead of chocolate chips :)

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    1. Thanks, I wasn't too sure myself how they would turn out inside the bread but it was a great idea in the end!

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  3. I don't think I would ever have thought to put m&m's in banana bread, but it sounds delicious! Plus, I love the punch of pink color. Great post!

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    1. I loved how colourful it turned out too! Now I've got all kinds of ideas for using regular m&m's to make rainbow punches of colour!

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  4. wow! Raspberry M&Ms sound interesting!

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    1. Yeah they taste amazing, I'd defo recommend checking them out!

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  5. Raspberry and Dark chocolate is such a wonderful combination - looks so delicious and fun!!
    Mary x

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    1. It really is, isn't it?! I'm not even a fan of dark chocolate usually but paired with raspberry and it's a whole different story!

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  6. Oh my! Thats like banana bread on steroids!! Looks so pretty with the pink splodges. So cool! Never seen those M&M's anywhere :)

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    1. Haha what a great comment Katie! Yeah I'd seen them on a few American blogs but have only ever seen the mint, coconut and pretzel ones offered in American shops or websites over here so I was super excited to discover these!

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  7. Wow! This is a gorgeous bread & love the combination of those M&M with raspberries! The color is so stunningly inviting. Can I have a slice of this awesome bread,pretty please? :)

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    1. Thanks Kit, if I had some left I would have definitely obliged but this was one of the quickest disappearing banana breads I've ever made!

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  8. What a delicious combination and creative use of M&Ms!

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  9. What a delicious flavor combination and creative use of M&Ms!

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    1. Thanks, I was super pleased with how it turned out!

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  10. Hmm yum I've never thought of adding other fruit to it - I normally do choc chips or peanut butter. Loving it!

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    1. Yeah the raspberries were a revelation - you should defo try it!

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  11. i wish they sold those m&ms over here in london! the loaf looks so bright & yummy as a result!

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    1. Emine, I'm in England! American Soda is an English website selling American products so all it takes is a few clicks and a short wait and you could be getting these yummy m&m's posted through your door too!

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  12. This sounds and looks amazing, I love the colour! Especially against the pink doilly. Definitely one of the prettiest banana breads I've seen.

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    1. Ah thanks Jo, I loved how the colours came through too - it's now got me thinking about all kinds of variations you could make with regular m&m's - it would be like a rainbow bread!

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  13. So cute! Now I am going to have to do something really special with my mint M&M's, swirling them into some buttercream probably isn't going to cut it! hehe

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    1. Haha, swirling them into buttercream still sounds tasty to made! I've used mint M&M's in the past to decorate frosted brownies or I've even stirred them into make a mint flavoured rocky road! Can't wait to see what you do with them!

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  14. Wow never seen raspberry m&m's before (hint hint :)) I love banana bread and new ways of baking them - would love to try a slice of this!

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    1. Me too! I love how versatile banana bread is, I made another variation on a batch last night which I know your peanut butter loving self is going to enjoy! and the hint is duly noted!

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