Chocolate-Marbled Banana Bread [What's Cooking: Festive '12]

I like banana bread, and I like chocolate, so I'm down for What's Cooking's Kraft-branded recipe. I don't normally eat mayo, so its seems a bit odd to put it in what is essentially a type of cake (sorry, not "mayo" - "Miracle Whip dressing spread") but I can see it working. Between following the recipe exactly plus the double boiler, this recipe uses a LOT of mixing bowls.

Cookbook Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup Miracle Whip
• 1 1/3 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 squares Baker's Semi-Sweet chocolate, melted (I always find an impromptu double boiler of putting the chocolate in a small bowl inside a bigger bowl of boiling water works easiest)

Following the cookbook recipe exactly:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Beat the egg, bananas, and Miracle Whip with a whisk until blended.

2. In another bowl, mix the remaining ingredients except for the chocolate. Add to the banana mix and stir until "just moistened". Pour half the mix into a bowl and stir in the melted chocolate.

Dat swirl tho

3. Spoon the batters alternately into a greased 8x4 inch loaf pan. With a knife, gently swirl the batter. Bake for 1 hour - 1 hour and 5 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

4. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely.

The Outcome:

This is pretty good banana bread - I really like the chocolate addition. The cool swirl pattern is lost a bit when baked, but it still looks neat. I was worried it would be too sweet (American baking recipes usually use too much sugar for my taste), but it tastes pretty decent. The only issue I have is that the outside was a bit too cooked - not burnt, but starting to head down that path, and gives a noticeably harder crust that tastes a bit strong. That can possibly be fixed by playing with different oven temperatures and cooking times.