Banana Bread with Chocolate and Crystallized Ginger

6 Tbsp (3 oz) unsalted butter
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or chop up a bar of chocolate)
1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (from about 3 large ripe bananas)
1/4 cup well-stirred whole-milk plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Set a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat to 350. Grease a standard-sized (about 9 x 5 in) loaf pan with cooking spray or butter.
2. In a small bowl, melt butter in microwave or oven. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add the chocolate chips and crystallized ginger and whisk well to combine. Set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a fork. Add the mashed banana, yogurt, melted butter, and vanilla and stir to mix well. Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients, and stir gently with a rubber spatula, scraping down the sides as needed, until just combined. Do not overmix. The batter will be thick and somewhat lumpy, but there should be no unincorporated flour. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top.
5. Bake until the loaf is a deep shade of golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour. If the loaf seems to be browning too quickly, tent with aluminum foil.
6. Cool the loaf in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Then tip it out onto the rack, and let it cool completely before slicing.

Note: Fully cooled, this bread freezes beautifully. To protect it from frost, wrap it in plastic wrap and then again in aluminum foil.

Source: A Homemade Life, by Molly Wizenberg

Try #1 - August 20, 2012
I made a few changes to this recipe, some on purpose, some accidentally... I used 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour, an undetermined amount but approximately 3/4 cup sugar (Abby dumped the first 1/4 cup in before I had a chance to check), and nonfat Greek yogurt.  I didn't have any crystallized ginger (which, I realize, is a key ingredient since it's in the title of the recipe, but oh well...), so I used chopped walnuts instead.  My pan is 10 inches, and it took about 55 minutes to bake all the way through.  All those changes still produced a delicious loaf of banana bread.

Try #2 - January 12, 2012
I used all whole wheat flour this time, and it still turned out great!