Chunky Monkey Snack Cake

 Chunky monkey cake, is one of our favorite snack cakes to make when we have over-ripe bananas in our fruit bowl.  It is sooo delicious. I have been known to hide bananas just so I can bake with them, and one thing I like to bake is this! 
It used to be so hard for me to bake banana stuff when I was in the UK because my partner would gobble the bananas up before they over-ripened.  I literally did have to hide them because if he didn't eat them, he would throw them away thinking they had gone off.
    As any seasoned baker knows, you need seriously ripe bananas to bake with. Ideally you should have bananas with plenty of brown spots on them. Well speckled with brown.
The riper a banana gets the more sugar they develop. They become sweeter and are beautiful to bake with.  The riper the better  is the secret to rich and flavor-filled banana baked goods!
  The riper they are, the easier they are to mash as well. In fact if they are well ripe, you can mash them with your electric mixer. It does a dab job of it.  
You can also liquify them with a stick blender.  This works well when you don't want any lumps of banana in your baked goods. I confess, I am not a person who is fond of lumps of banana in my breads, cakes, etc.
 Of course you can also mash them with a fork or a potato masher.  Try to get them as mashed as you can. 
This chunky monkey snack cake is a rich and moist cake, filled with loads of chopped toasted nuts, semi-sweet chocolate chips and salted caramel chips. If you can't get salted caramel chips, use white chocolate chips.
 The addition of sour cream ensures that you end up with a cake that is incredibly moist. Of course brown sugar aids in that as well.  I really love cakes that are made with sour cream or buttermilk, or even yogurt.
These three things really bring out the best in a cake and result in cakes that are amazingly moist and delicious.
 
This is so moist and delicious, there is no need for a frosting of any kind. Its just not needed.  This a cake that stands very well on its own.
You can use pecans or walnuts in this cake.  They add a deliciously nutty crunch and do I need to say it?  Toast your nuts first!
 I always toast my nuts for baking, and for snacking too. Toasting enhances their natural nuttiness. It doesn't take much effort to spread a bag of nuts out onto a baking tray and toast them in the oven.
About 8 minutes or so at 375*F/195*C until you smell their nuttiness is long enough to do the job. You don't want them burnt, just toasted.  You can do a whole bag full at a time and keep them in the freezer for whenever you need toasted nuts.
 Its also a great way to get the skins off of hazelnuts/filberts.  Just toast them and then rub them in a clean tea towel.  The skins fall right off.  Perfect! 
Just a handy tip that you might want to hang onto for future reference!  It also works with walnuts.
 This is an incredible breakfast cake to share with your family at the weekend, as well as being more than welcome as an afternoon snack with a nice cold glass of milk.
It also goes well with hot cups of tea or coffee, or herbal teas as well.  
 With a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream (or chocolate) it makes a lovely dessert.  I would cut it in much smaller squares if I was having it for dessert, and maybe add a drizzle of chocolate sauce!! 
Sounds decadent eh?  I thought so too!  I have seen other version of this where they sprinkled sugar on top of the cake before baking.  I have one word for that. DON'T!!
 This cake is well sweet enough just as it is. It needs nothing else. Trust me on this.  I think sprinkling sugar on top is going well over the top. Just my opinion of course.
Why mess with perfection?  Why indeed!  And this is truly perfection. Just look at how moist and dense this cake is!!
 It has a wonderful tender and moist crumb.  Prepare to fall in love.  This is destined to become a firm family favorite of I will eat my hat!  (not near as tasty!)
My sister happened to stop by on her way home from work and she couldn't resist taking a couple of pieces home with her.  I love this new aspect of my life. I love being able to say my sister stopped by on her way home from work.  This is a dream come true.

And my father said he would stop by on his way over to my sister's for supper.  This is the silver lining in all that has happened.  Being able to spend time with family. I am so blessed.
In the meantime, if you bake only one cake this weekend, let it be this one!  I guarantee you won't regret it!  GUARANTEE!! You have my word. This will make all your chunky monkey's very happy indeed!
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Chunky Monkey Snack Cake

Yield: 9Author: Marie RaynerPrep time: 10 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 50 MinThis moist and delicious banana snacking cake is chock full of chocolate chips, salted caramel chips and toasted pecan nuts! Perfect for after school, breakfast, break time, any time! No frosting needed for this tasty cake!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (120g) butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup (135g) soft light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup (120ml) dairy sour cream, full fat
• 1 TBS pure vanilla extract
• 1 large free range egg
• 1 cup (140g) plain all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 2 small ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (1 cup/225g)
• 1/2 cup (85g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup (85g) salted caramel chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup (60g) toasted pecans or walnut

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*C/180*C/ gas mark 4.  Butter an 8X8-inch square baking tin and line the bottom with baking paper, leaving an overhang to lift it out.
2. Beat the butter and brown sugar together to combine. It will look crumbly.  Beat in the sour cream, egg and the vanilla.  
3. Sift together the flour, soda and salt.  Stir into the creamed mixture, just unti combined. 
4. Stir in the mashed banana, semi-sweet chocolate chips, caramel chips and nuts.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and level off.
6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the cake is golden brown, well risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.  
7. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares to serve.

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