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.