Boozy Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

This has been my comfort food for the past 2 weeks. My husband and I have been sniffling, coughing, and sneezing through January - and this heartening (definition: cheerfully encouraging) banana bread is aiding our recuperation, along with the most amazing lotion-enfused tissues (whoever invented these is my hero), gallons of tea, buckets of water and litres of orange juice.   We'll get there, one bite at a time.

I add 2 tbsp of dark rum to my bread, and I can discern a gentle rum flavour and scent.  The original recipe calls for 3 tbsp of booze (bourbon, to be exact).  Why not?  It's for medicinal purposes, after all.

Boozy Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
adapted from Joy the Baker

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
3 bananas, mashed
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 cup plus one handful semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl.  Set aside.

Blend butter and sugar with a hand mixer until smooth.   Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Add in sugar, mashed bananas, and rum (or bourbon, or canadian rye - whatever floats your boat).  Continue to mix with hand-mixer until well combined.  Add flour mixture - mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until incorporated, and finally add 1 cup of chocolate chips (after eating a handful, naturally).  

Pour into a well greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes.