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This Chocolate Banana Bread is moist, flavorful, and studded with rich chocolate chips. Meet your new favorite banana bread recipe!
If you can’t resist making banana bread whenever you have over-ripe bananas on hand, this Chocolate Banana Bread is the perfect recipe to jazz up your next loaf. It’s moist and full of banana flavor just like the classic, but the addition of cocoa powder and chocolate chips take it up a notch!
Like all of the best banana bread recipes, this one is a cinch to make; mix your wet ingredients and your dry ingredients, combine them, and you’re good to go. Add a scoop of ice cream or Peanut Butter Whipped Cream for a crowd-pleasing dessert, or keep it simple and enjoy a slice for a quick afternoon pick-me-up with this homemade pink drink recipe.
Either way, this Chocolate Banana Bread recipe is going to become a fast favorite!
What You’ll Need
Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Ripe bananas
- Brown sugar
- Unsalted butter – Olive oil or melted coconut oil can be used in place of the butter.
- Eggs – Let the eggs come to room temperature before you start the recipe.
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – Be sure to use unsweetened cocoa powder, not cocoa mix.
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips – You’ll need some for the batter and some for topping the loaf.
Can Bananas Be Too Ripe for Banana Bread?
No, unless the banana is completely liquefied or moldy, it’s not too ripe for banana bread! The darker the better; your bananas should at least have lots of black and brown spots, but bananas that are more brown than yellow are best of all.
Not only do darker bananas lend more sweetness to this Chocolate Banana Bread recipe, they also have a more pronounced banana flavor. A banana that’s still yellow with streaks of green has a bland flavor that yields a lackluster banana bread.
How to Make Chocolate Banana Bread
Here’s what you’ll need to do to make this moist, decadent banana bread recipe.
Prepare. Preheat your oven to 350ºF and grease or line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
Mash the bananas. Place the bananas in a large mixing bowl and mash them with a fork or potato masher. A few chunks are okay, but the bananas should be mostly smooth; if you prefer, you can pulse the bananas in a blender instead of mashing them by hand.
Mix the wet ingredients. Add the sugar, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract to the bowl with the mashed bananas. Use a hand mixer on low speed to mix until combined.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, then fold in the chocolate chips.
Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and scatter additional chocolate chips over the top of the batter, if desired. Bake for 60 minutes, then check the bread and add additional time in 5 or 10 minute increments, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
Cool and serve. Let the loaf cool for 15 minutes in the loaf pan, then it transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Tips for Success
This Chocolate Banana Bread recipe is fairly straightforward, but these additional hints and tips will help make sure it turns out perfect.
- Measure the mashed banana. After you’ve mashed the banana, measure it. Bananas vary in size, and adding too much or too little can affect the texture of your banana bread.
- Tent the bread if needed. Sometimes banana bread can trick you; it can look done on the outside but still be doughy in the middle. That’s when tenting the bread with aluminum foil comes in handy. It protects the top from becoming too brown, overcooked, or crusty.
- Know your loaf pan. The baking time for this recipe is a large range because every oven if different and various loaf pans bake at different rates. There are two popular loaf pan sizes, 9×5 and 8.5×4.5, and although the numbers are similar, the pans actually differ in size by 15%. The 8.5×4.5 pan will yield a taller, more domed bread and will take 5-10 minutes longer when baking.
What Makes Banana Bread Moist?
Bananas make banana bread naturally moist, but if your loaf turns out dry, there are two likely culprits.
First, it’s possible that you didn’t add enough mashed banana; this is why it’s so important to measure it. Second, you may have added too much flour to the recipe. Use the spoon-and-sweep method to make sure your flour measurements are accurate.
How to Store
Wrap the loaf tightly or place it in an airtight container. Chocolate Banana Bread will keep at room temperature for up to 4 days. Banana bread will dry out in the fridge, so it’s best to keep it on the counter!
Can This Recipe Be Frozen?
Yes, you can freeze this Chocolate Banana Bread for up to 3 months. Wrap it tightly, or store it in an airtight container or freezer bag. When you’re ready to serve it, let it thaw at room temperature.
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Chocolate Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 4-5 ripe bananas, 2 cups mashed
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted (can substitute olive oil or coconut oil)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for topping the bread
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas until smooth. Few chunks here and there is fine. You can also pulse the bananas a few times in a blender if you prefer.
- In the bowl with the mashed bananas, add the sugar, melted butter, eggs and vanilla extract, mix on low until combined.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips with a spatula, mix just until combined.
- Pour the batter into a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan (greased or lined with parchment paper). Add additional chocolate chips to the top of the bread if desired.
- Bake for 60 minutes. Check the bread and add additional time in 5 or 10 minute intervals until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few breadcrumbs. The baking time is a large range because every oven if different and various loaf pans cook at different times. There’s two popular loaf pan sizes – 9×5 and 8.5×4.5. Even though the numbers are similar, the pans actually differ in size by 15%. The 8.5×4.5 pan will yield a tall, more domed bread and will take 5-10 minutes longer when baking. Cool for 15 minutes in the baking dish and then transfer to a wire rack until cooled completely.
