If you’re on a super specific eating regime, have an allergy, don’t like bourbon, or you don’t want to splurge a little in the carb and chocolate department, then this recipe is not for you.

For everyone else, you’re gonna love my Banana Bourbon Ball Bread recipe.

The Creative Cooking Crew January challenge was chocolate. Yeah, no worries there.

Enter Banana Bourbon Ball Bread. Guaranteed to take your dessert taste buds to the next level.

When you need chocolate. When you want boozy bourbon deliciousness. I got you.

Banana Bourbon Ball Bread

Baker’s note: To save time, toast the pecans and bake the bread one day ahead. Icing recipe Anne Roderique-Jones  Nov. 2014 Saveur.com. 

For the Bread

1 ¼ cups bread flour (if you use all-purpose or an unbleached cake flour, the texture of the bread will be airy, but I think the bourbon complements/needs the denseness)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 medium overripe bananas

3 teaspoons Larceny bourbon (or some other bourbon with caramel and honey flavors)

2 ounces semi-sweet baker’s chocolate, (about ½ cup total)

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup chopped pecans

For the Icing

2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/8 cup milk

1 tablespoon bourbon

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons Dutch cocoa powder

Directions

Bread

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a bread loaf pan with parchment paper. Cut to fit, leaving flaps on the sides for easy removal. Spray the pan and parchment lightly with baking spray.
3. Combine the flour, salt, soda, and powder in a medium bowl. Whisk.
4. Add the vanilla to the eggs in a pourable spout container. Stir to break up the yolks.
5. Mash the bananas with a fork in a small bowl. Add the bourbon. Stir.
6. Chop 2/3 of the chocolate roughly. Chop or shred the other 1/3. The smaller pieces will melt and the larger chunks will stay firm.
7. Whip the butter and cream in a large bowl with a hand mixer on medium speed for about three minutes. Scrap down the sides a few times.
8. Add the eggs to the butter a little at a time until creamy on medium speed. Scrap down the sides a few times.
9. Reduce the speed to low and add the bananas to the butter and eggs. The mix will look curdled. Good. Turn off the hand mixer.
10. Add the flour mix to the banana mix a little at time with a spatula. Careful not to over mix.
11. Add the bourbon and chocolate. Stir.
12. Pour the banana bread mix into the parchment lined bread loaf pan. Shake the pan a little to even out the top of the batter.
13. Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes depending on your oven. Check at 50 minutes by sliding a toothpick in the center. If the toothpick comes out clean, remove the bread from the oven and cool on a rack in the pan for ten minutes.
14. While the bread cools, line a baking sheet with parchment paper spread the pecans on the sheet and bake 5 to 6 minutes if using pre-chopped pecans or 7 to 8 minutes if using pecan halves, or until you smell the nuts. Remove the nuts from the oven and cool. If using halves, chop into small pieces. To save time, the pecans can be toasted ahead a few days and stored in a sealed container.
15. Once the bread has cooled for ten minutes out of the oven, remove the bread from the pan using the side flaps of the parchment paper to lift the bread from the pan. Let the bread cool completely before icing.

Icing

(The original icing recipe on Saveur calls for double the ingredients, but I had more than enough icing for this one loaf of bread, plus extra that I poured on cornbread and still had leftovers. So if you want or need more icing, just double all the icing ingredients.)

1. Sift the sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl.
2. Melt the milk and butter in a small saucepan on medium heat. When the butter melts, add the bourbon and stir.
3. Whisk the cocoa and sugar into the liquid a little a time until the icing is smooth and shiny.
4. Pour the icing over the bread immediately. Sprinkle the pecans over the top. Let the icing set completely, about thirty minutes before slicing and serving.