Gochujang Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

"Use your overripe bananas to make this chocolate chunk banana bread with a kick - its star ingredient is the Korean chile paste gochujang, which melds with the bananas, brown sugar, vanilla, white miso, maple syrup, cinnamon and olive oil. Spicy-tangy gochujang gives this banana bread a warming heat that gently builds and plays off the other sweet, fermented flavors."

"Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low-medium heat until fully melted, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat, and set aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the banana bread batter. Cut the dark chocolate bar into shards and chunks, set aside in a small bowl and refrigerate. In the bowl of a standing mixer, or in a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, sea salt, baking powder and cinnamon."

"Next, add the wet mixture to the dry. Mix on low speed if using a mixer with the paddle attachment - or whisk in a mixing bowl - until it's all evenly combined and you have a thick, slightly orange-tinged batter. Gently fold in the chocolate chunks until evenly distributed. Take the remaining tablespoon of butter and use it to coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with a paper towel all over the bottom and sides."

Overripe bananas are mashed and combined with gochujang, white miso, vanilla, light brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, melted butter, olive oil and oat milk to form the wet mixture. Baking soda is activated with apple cider vinegar until it froths and is whisked into the wet ingredients to leaven and react. Flour, sea salt, baking powder and cinnamon form the dry base before the wet mixture is folded in and the batter becomes slightly orange-tinged. Dark chocolate shards are folded through, the pan is buttered, and the loaf bakes at 350 degrees for a sweet-spicy, fermented-flavored result.

Read at Los Angeles Times