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One of the most loved recipes on the site is our banana bread, and one thing people seem to like to do to change it up is to add chocolate chips to it. That’s sort of a no-brainer, right?
Dear banana bread lovers, putting chocolate chips in your banana bread is like having your bananas and chocolate go on a date. Lovely and sweet, yet still separate and distinct. After a while both want something more—a merging of wills, a commitment!
Well, if chocolate and banana were to marry, this would be the result—a richly chocolate banana bread, infused with cocoa, speckled with chocolate chips, with warm hints of butter, vanilla, and allspice.
- Wondering how to freeze, store and thaw your banana bread? Click here for all the ins and outs on how to keep your banana bread at its best!
How to make the best chocolate banana bread
From the editors of Simply Recipes
Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe
Use very ripe or over-ripe bananas. The peels should be at least half browned, and the bananas inside squishy and browning.
Do not use Dutch processed cocoa for this recipe, only natural unsweetened.
Melted coconut oil can be used in place of the butter. The flavor will change a little and you may get a hint of coconut in the result.
There is only 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of baking soda in this recipe for leavening, so make sure your baking soda is still good! (See more info on baking soda and baking powder.)
Ingredients
- 3 large ripe bananas (easily mashable)
- 1/3 cup melted butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar (packed, light or dark)
- 1 teaspoon salt (1/2 a teaspoon if using salted butter)
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Special equipment:
Method
1 Prepare pan and preheat oven: Butter or spray with cooking spray the inside of a 5x9-inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) with a rack in the middle.
2 Purée bananas: Using a blender, food processor, or a fork, purée the peeled ripe bananas until smooth. You should have 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups of banana purée.
3 Mix wet ingredients and sugar: Place the banana purée into a large mixing bowl. Stir the melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar and salt. Whisk to break up any clumps of brown sugar. Stir in the beaten egg and vanilla extract.
4 Mix dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and allspice.
5 Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir until just incorporated.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
6 Bake: Pour batter into a buttered loaf pan. Place in a 350°F (175°C) oven and bake for 1 hour.
Note that because of the chocolate chips that melt in the bread as it cooks, it's hard to check for doneness using a tester that you insert.
One way to test is to gently push the center top of the chocolate banana bread down with your finger. If it feels relatively firm and bounces back when you release your finger, that's a good sign that it's done.
7 Let cool: Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
Gently remove the loaf from the pan and place on a rack to cool completely.
Slice with a serrated bread knife to serve.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Chocolate Banana Bread
I had a manic, night before Thanksgiving, why not make some bread with these gross bananas idea and stumbled on this recipe. It turned out great! Usually my manic night ideas do not turn out so well. However, I think because I only had two bananas… it came out more as a giant brownie loaf? Anyways, no one over here is complaining.
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Yeah, giant brownie loaf sounds good to me!
Hi Elise,
Why shouldn’t we used dutch processed cocoa? Sad to say that’s the only kind I have at home and that was what I used, haven’t tasted them (made into cupcakes) yet, waiting for them to cool.
Hi Sha, good question! Avoiding Dutch-process cocoa in this recipe is preferable, but not a requirement. (As I’m sure you know now, having tasted your cupcakes.) It’s all a question of pH level. Dutch process cocoa is basic, and the baking soda in this recipe is, too. Natural (non-Dutched) cocoa is acidic. For the color and leavening in this recipe to be optimal, you want an acid/base reaction. However, I’ve swapped Dutch process cocoa in many recipe leavened with only baking soda, and they’ve turned out fine. Here’s what Elise says about swapping one for the other in this recipe: “The result will not be as intensely chocolatey though. You may want to add another 1/4 cup of chocolate chips to counteract that.”
Wow!! I made this last night and it was so DELICIOUS! I added a bit more chocolate chips to my liking. This will be a regular recipe in our home. Thanks so much for sharing + Happy holidays!
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This is the best banana bread I have ever had! So moist and delicious. Thank you for this recipe Elise!
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PERFECTO MUNDO!!! I just followed your recipe and it came out perfect ….Thank you
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