Chocolate-Swirled Banana Bars

Currently our favorite bar recipe, this is adapted from "Black-Bottom Banana Bars" from the "Taste of Home" magazine. The bars have a really nice moist cake consistency. I like to show the original recipe, so I(and you) can be flexible in adapting it in various ways, depending on what I want to try for or what I want to use from my "pantry" on that particular day(For example, I may sometime want to use shortening instead of oil to see what difference there is in texture, or use gelatin instead of flaxseed meal to replace the egg).

Here's the recipe with my adaptations:

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
(Taste of Home recipe calls for butter or margarine, softened)
1 cup sugar
1 egg, substitute ie: 1/4 cup applesauce, or 1 T. flaxseed meal w/ warm water to equal 1/3 cup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
(about 3 medium)
1-1/2 cups flour(I use my homemade all-purpose baking mix)*
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt(opt I don't use this)
1/4 cup baking cocoa

Cream oil and sugar. Then mix in egg substitute and vanilla. Next the bananas. Combine dry ingredients together(except for cocoa), then add to creamed mixture. Pour half of batter into greased 13" x 9"x 2." pan. * Mix the cocoa into the remaining batter, then spoon on top and swirl.* Bake at 350 degrees for 25 min. or until bars test done.

*See post Homemade Baking Mixes
1/3 part oat flour
1/3 part brown rice flour
1/3 part bean and starch:
2/3 of this is starch- half cornstarch and half tapioca starch, or half potato starch
1/3 of this is bean flour- lentil, white bean, or garbanzo

*spray with canola oil(Misto sprayer) or pan spray you can have, or rub around oil with fingers. You can dust lightly with cornstarch or your flour mix in addition.

*technically, you could probably swirl the bars better if the chocolate layer went down first, it's heavier. I don't bother when it's mostly about the flavor for me rather than fine looks : )