“Israeli” Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

“If you don’t put bananas in the freezer in Israel, how do you make your BANANA CAKE?!”

Joshua was one of our first Israeli friends in Israel. He was a great guitar player and managed the banana grove in a kibbutz near Degania A where we press our olive oil. One day he brought us a huge bunch of bananas. I was in banana heaven.

I told him not to worry, that we never waste bananas because we freeze them when they get too brown to eat. Joshua was amazed. He’d never heard of freezing bananas and more surprisingly he had never heard of banana cake. Who doesn’t love BANANA CAKE!

Of course I baked him his first banana cake with loads of chocolate chips and he was hooked. I guess I introduced chocolate chip banana cake to Israel. 🙂

Here is how I make it. It’s a healthier version than the original recipe that called for margarine and only white flour. This recipe uses whole wheat flour and Galilee Green Olive Oil of course.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup of Galilee Green Olive Oil
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 2 eggs slightly beaten
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup white flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup orange or apple or water or almond milk or milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 – 4 mashed riped bananas
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C
• In a small bowl mash bananas and add juice or milk and vanilla
• In another small bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt
• In a large bowl mix olive oil and sugar well and add eggs and beat well
• Alternately, add dry mixture and bananas to large bowl and mix very well
• Add 1 cup of chocolate chips
• Bake for 40 minutes and check with a toothpick for doneness.

I like to keep this cake non-dairy so we can have it as a dessert for Shabbat. I use orange juice and dark non dairy chocolate chips instead of milk and dairy chocolate chips.

Feel free to make this cake your own!

ENJOY!!