A soft warm slice of banana bread is always a welcome mid morning or afternoon snack. And if you love chocolate too, then this soft and tender loaf of chocolate chocolate chip banana bread will be the go-to snack you won’t want to live without.
If you love my chocolate bread but have too many brown bananas you need to use up, why not make chocolate banana bread? This chocolate chocolate banana bread is made with cocoa powder as well as chocolate chips for double the chocolate flavor in every bite!
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Delicious chocolate flavor – so much chocolate flavor from both cocoa powder and chocolate chips, chocolate lovers won’t be disappointed!
- So soft and moist – packed full of ripe bananas, this chocolate chocolate chip banana bread is super moist and soft. And it will stay that way for days.
- Quick and easy – true to its nature of a quick bread, this recipe is extremely easy to make and super quick to throw together, just 15 minutes in the kitchen!
Tools you’ll need
Beside the usual measuring cups and spoons, mixing bowls and whisk/spatula, no special tools are necessary for this chocolate chocolate banana bread recipe as you can easily make the batter by hand. You do need a standard loaf pan to bake the bread in.
Ingredients and substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- Banana – super ripe bananas are a must for banana bread to maximize flavor. Fresh or frozen bananas will work here.
- Butter – unsalted butter is used in this banana bread for that delicious buttery taste. Salted butter can be used in place of unsalted but you’ll need to reduce the amount of salt called for separately.
- Egg – I use 2 eggs in this recipe.
- Vanilla – pure vanilla extract is used to enhance the flavor and add complexity.
- Brown sugar – brown sugar adds depth, richness and moisture to this chocolate and banana loaf, dark or light brown sugar will both work. But if you don’t have brown sugar, you can substitute granulated sugar; however, I think the resulting bread will lack some complexity.
- Flour – all purpose flour is all you need. If you want to make this gluten free, I recommend Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur gluten free flour; however, note that I have not tried making this recipe gluten free personally.
- Cocoa powder – I prefer dutch processed cocoa powder for its deep chocolate flavor. Natural cocoa powder would also work.
- Leavening agents – I use both baking soda and baking powder. The baking soda will be activated by the acidity in the brown sugar.
- Salt – I always use kosher salt in all my recipes. If substituting salted butter, reduce by half. If using table salt, due to the smaller granules, you’ll only need to use half or two thirds as much.
- Chocolate chips – I use standard semisweet chocolate chips here. They add more chocolate flavor and a gooey melty factor when the bread is served warmed. Other type of chocolate like chocolate chunks, chocolate bars (chopped), etc. will also work.
How to make chocolate chocolate chip banana bread
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Start making the banana bread batter by beating together mashed banana, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Then combine brown sugar with the wet ingredients.
Sift together the dry ingredients and stir in the salt. Fold flour mixture into the wet ingredients until a batter forms with a few streaks of dry flour left.
Fold in about half of the chocolate chips.
Tip: You don’t have to divide the chocolate chips in this step. If you want to fold in the whole cup of chocolate chips, feel free to do so and skip adding some on top.
Transfer the batter to a buttered and lined loaf pan, sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top.
Bake for approximately 1 hour until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached.
More baker’s tips
- Fresh or frozen bananas can be used in this recipe. If you’re using frozen bananas, don’t throw away the liquid that comes out when the bananas thaw, simply mash the bananas and the liquid all together.
- Ripe bananas are a must! If you don’t have ripe bananas, you can “ripen” them quickly by baking them in the oven at 300°F for 20-40 minutes, until their peel turns black.
- Brown the butter – for even more flavor, you could make this recipe with brown butter. It adds a sweeter nuttier taste to this chocolate and banana loaf, really enhancing the chocolate flavor. Highly highly recommended!! You don’t need to make any other changes to the recipe.
- Serve warm – this yummy chocolate banana bread with chocolate chips is best when slightly warm and the chocolate is melty. From room temperature, warm a slice for 15-20 seconds in the microwave. From refrigeration, warm it for 20-25 seconds.
- Add nuts – for a little nuttiness, swap out some of the chocolate chips for nuts or simply toss in some nuts along with all the chocolate chips. Pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts are all great in banana bread. I know coconut doesn’t fall under the “nuts” category but try folding in some coconut, like this banana coconut loaf, it will be delicious!
Storage
Room temperature: Store chocolate banana bread in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Refrigerator: Beyond 3 days, you can transfer the leftovers to the refrigerator for another 3-4 days. You can also store it in the refrigerator directly after it has cooled and it will last up to a week.
Freezer: This banana loaf also freezes well and can last up to 3 months. I recommend freezing individual slices, wrapped tightly in plastic, and stored in a freezer bag. You can thaw them at room temperature before serving. If you like warm bread, heat defrosted slices in the microwave for about 15 seconds each.
FAQs
Sure, you can bake this recipe in muffin tins, just make sure to shorten baking time. Check out this banana muffins recipe for more tips and tricks.
There is not enough batter in this recipe to make a chocolate banana bread bundt cake. You’ll likely need 1.5x this recipe to make a bundt cake, but not 2x, that would be too much batter. If you want to make this into a bundt cake, check out my banana bundt cake recipe for tips on baking banana bread in a bundt pan.
It should be fairly easy to 1.5x the ingredients in this recipe. But if you want to just double the recipe for simplicity, you can always bake any leftover batter in muffin tins.
I used semisweet chocolate chips which are typical in baking recipes. I like its balance of sweetness and bitterness. But if you prefer more bitterness, use bittersweet or dark chocolate and if you like your chocolate chocolate banana bread sweeter, use milk chocolate. This recipe can be adjusted to your preference.
More banana bread recipes
- Pecan Banana Bread
- Lemon Banana Bread
- Banana Bread Coffee Cake
- Matcha Banana Bread
- Banana Bread French Toast
📖 Recipe card
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup mashed banana (320 g)
- 4 oz unsalted butter (113 g, melted or brown, and cooled, see notes)
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar (tightly packed, 133 g)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (135 g)
- ½ cup cocoa powder (48 g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (172 g, divided)
Instructions
- Mash the banana with a potato masher in a large mixing bowl. Add melted butter, vanilla and eggs, whisk together to combine. Add brown sugar and beat until smooth.
- Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder into a small mixing bowl. Stir in the kosher salt. Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and fold until just combined.
- Fold in half of the chocolate chips.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F while the batter rests.
- Brush a loaf pan generously with melted butter, line it with a longer piece of parchment paper leaving the excess hanging over the sides.
- Transfer the batter into the prepared pan, and sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips over the top.
- Bake for 55 – 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached.
- Remove from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. To remove the banana loaf from the pan, simply lift it out using the excess parchment paper as handles.
Notes
- Brown the butter if you want more flavor. I opted to write this recipe with melted butter for simplicity but if you want to take the extra 5-10 minutes to brown the butter, it adds a sweeter, nuttier flavor that enhances the chocolate flavor even further. Highly recommended!!
- Always use overripe bananas for the most banana flavor.
- You can use frozen bananas. When thawing frozen bananas, you’ll see liquid come out, just mash the bananas with the liquid all together.
- You can add nuts in the batter along with the chocolate chips: pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts are all great in banana bread.
- Serve warm!
Nutrition
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