Chocolate and Cinnamon Banana Pound Cake

A little over a year ago, we had several extremely ripe bananas sitting in our kitchen (this was not a rare occurrence, since I frequently buy large bunches of bananas thinking “oh, bananas! yum!” and then proceed to let them all become quite brown and wholly unappealing; my brain somehow thinks that I really love bananas, when in fact, I rarely want to eat a whole banana, even when they are lovely and slightly greenish). As many of you might have when such a situtation presented itself, I said “I’m going to make banana bread after dinner.”

When after dinner came, though, Bart said “how about a banana cake?” (this is not a rare occurrence either; he told our dinner guests on Wednesday that he was “a dessert man”). So I found a recipe (I’m such a nice wife) for a fabulous looking chocolate cinnamon banana pound cake, and we set off to purchase the ingredients. One of these ingredients was a bag of cinnamon chips. Do you not know what cinnamon chips are? Neither did the store we went to (a higher-end grocery store). These are cinnamon chips.

The snotty teenager cashier laughed when I asked her if she knew where they were and snidely suggested I look by the Doritos. Bart suggested we just do chocolate chips instead. I gave them both scathing looks of disdain and made Bart take me to three stores before we finally found this elusive product at Albertsons. I rejoiced. Bart rejoiced also when he discovered how fabulous this cake was. (Also, he forgave me for making him drag me all around town).

We made it again when Bart’s parents came for Thanksgiving – this banana pound cake sealed their approval for Bart’s decision to marry me (they didn’t know about the scathing looks of disdain, but even if they had, the cake would have smoothed things over).

Yesterday, my co-worker had a birthday. She had asked some weeks ago that I make her a cake instead of buying one. I’d suggested this recipe and she’d quickly agreed.

On Wednesday night, I set out to the grocery store to buy the ingredients (on the company’s tab, of course, since the office always pays for the cake). Three stores and an hour later, I had no cinnamon chips. Albertson’s, you see, is going out of business (no surprise there since H-E-B is FAR better and FAR cheaper) and they no longer carry cinnamon chips. I wept. All was lost.

Actually, all was not lost because my thoughtful mother-in-law had sent me a bag of cinnamon chips for my birthday. I had not forgotten this bag sitting in my cupboard. But I did not want to use them because THE OFFICE WASN’T PAYING FOR THEM! And even more so now that I know that they could not be found in my immediate vicinity. And yet, I used them. For I am a nice person. (Also, I like to uphold my somewhat tenuous reputation as a good cook and, lo, those cinnamon chips are key to that reputation). Also, the bag was quite large.

One complaint about the bag though – it said in large letters on the front “DO NOT EAT AS CANDY!” Are you kidding me? I shall eat them as candy if I wish. And I will enjoy myself in the process.

And of course, now I shall share this banana pound cake recipe with you. And you shall wow your friends too (if you can find cinnamon chips).

Chocolate Banana Pound Cake

5 from 20 votes

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Chocolate Banana Pound Cake

This recipe is worth every single minute of trying to find cinnamon chips!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 38 minutes

Total Time 53 minutes

Servings 1 bundt cake

Author Janssen Bradshaw

Ingredients

Cake:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 package plain German chocolate cake mix psh, don't give me grief about using a cake mix
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup cinnamon chips

Glaze:

• ½ cup sugar
• 5 Tbsp butter
• ¼ cup milk
• 3 Tbsp cocoa powder unsweetened
• 2/3 cup cinnamon chips
• 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350. Peel bananas and place them in a large mixingbowl. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend them until mashed. Add the cake mix, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Blend on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape the bowl with a spatula and beat 2 more minutes on medium speed. Fold in the cinnamon chips, making sure theyare well-distributed. Bake until cake springs back when pressed with finger (38-40 minutes). Let cool completely.
2. Meanwhile, place sugar, butter and milk for glaze in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until it boils. Still stirring, let it boil for 1 minute and remove pan from heat. Stir in cocoa powder, cinnamon chips and vanilla until the cinnamon chips are melted and the glaze is smooth. Stir and let cool for a few minutes until it thickens a little. When cake is cool, drizzle over the top. Save extra glaze in fridge and eat like fudge.
3. Gorge yourself and your friends with cake. Bask in the mighty praise you are sure to receive.

If you liked this chocolate and cinnamon banana pound cake recipe, you might also like these other recipes:

• Banana Sauce (aka the best pancake topping)
• Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Fresh Berries and Whipped Cream
• Chocolate Chip Cake with Cinnamon and Sugar