Earth Muffin Family & Friends III: (Double Chocolate Cinnamon) Bread for Noodle

I don't have a system for posting here and so I tend to forget you, blog, for weeks on end. This week I also missed the February Daring Bakers challenge (you can see some lovely flourless chocolate cakes and ice cream over at A Charmed Life and Dad ~ Baker & Chef).

One thing I don't often forget (although my mother's account may differ marginally) is my family. As previously mentioned, my middle sister Anna, also known as Nanna Noo, Noodlehead, Noodle, and sometimes Noods (not the most appropriate nickname to holler across supermarket aisles, yes, I am speaking from experience) stayed with me for all of January and now I am missing her constant company. She's in her final semester of college, and student teaching, so her life becomes more and more fraught with anxiety with each passing day. I know this because I've been there. Well, without the student teaching.

I constructed a care package for Noodle, which consisted of a heavily-stickered, reused toaster box, a hastily scribbled letter, and some of this bread, in muffin form. The muffins were the most vital part of the package, which is why I had to deceive the postal worker slightly, and inform her that the contents were not perishable. When they were. And also endure her ridicule upon viewing the heavily-stickered box.

Double Chocolate Cinnamon Bread

1 1/2 cups milk
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup applesauce
1 egg, beaten
1 banana, mashed
1 tsp. instant espresso, dissolved in 2 tsp. hot water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1/2 cup cocoa
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (400 degrees for muffins).
2. Beat sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, until fluffy.
3. Add applesauce, mashed banana, egg, milk, espresso and vinegar, one at a time.
4. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and add slowly to wet, mixing only until damp (mixture should remain lumpy).
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Mix remaining ingredients together to make cinnamon streusel.
6. Fill greased mini loaf pans 1/2 way with batter. Sprinkle streusel over batter, and add more batter to fill pans about 3/4 high.
7. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf emerges clean (muffins will take 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees).