Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

At a glance

What stands out: Banana and chocolate is a winning combination in banana chocolate chip bread. Loaded with plenty of chocolate, this bread is going to be a hit.

How long it takes: 15 minutes to prep, 50 minutes to bake
Equipment you’ll need: oven, mixing bowl, 9 x 5 inch loaf pan
Servings: makes 1 loaf

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Loaded with bananas! This banana bread recipe boasts four large bananas. That’s a lot of banana goodness (and bananas are truly good for you, too). No fake banana flavoring here! It’s the reliable way to use up those extra overripe bananas you may have sitting on the counter.

Loaded with chocolate! With a whole cup of chocolate chips in the batter, plus a generous layer of chocolate baked on top of the bread, your chocolate cravings should be completely satisfied. Serve the warm bread when the chips are still slightly soft and gooey. It’s a standby!

What goes in

• Bananas: You’ll need about 4 large bananas, enough to equal 1 ½ cups of mashed banana. Ripe bananas are best; in fact, the riper the bananas, the sweeter the bread will taste. Bananas with lots of brown freckles are just right.
• Chocolate Chips: This banana bread is loaded with chocolate chips. We like to use regular sized chocolate chips in the batter and sprinkle mini chips on top. If you prefer, you could simply use all mini chips.
• Sugar: Regular white sugar (granulated sugar) is all you need.
• Oil: We usually use canola oil or vegetable oil in our speedy bread recipes. Any oil that has a mild flavor can be used. Coconut oil is a good choice, too.
• Eggs: Two large eggs are mixed into the batter to provide structure and richness. For the lightest textured bread, it’s best if the eggs are at room temperature, but it’s not absolutely necessary. We've made this bread many times either way.
• Flour: Regular all-purpose flour is fine. If you want to add more nutrition and fiber, you could make the bread with whole wheat flour or try our whole wheat banana bread recipe.
• Pure Vanilla Extract: A baker’s friend, vanilla adds warm sweet notes to baked goods.
• Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt: These pantry items are added to many baked goods. They provide leavening and flavor.

Freeze Bananas

We always have frozen bananas on hand for recipes like this banana bread. Don’t throw away those overripe bananas; they’re straightforward to freeze! If you happen to have a couple of overripe bananas on the counter, simply freeze them until you’re ready to bake bread.

How To Freeze Bananas

Baking Tip

Measure the flour correctly so your bread doesn’t turn out too dry. Use a measuring cup that is made to measure dry ingredients (without a pouring spout). With a spoon or scoop, transfer the flour into your measuring cup. Fill the cup lightly; don’t shake it down to settle the flour. Level the top with a flat edge, such as a table knife.

How it comes together

Prep. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and turn it on to begin preheating to 350°F. It’s important to have the oven preheated before you put the bread in to bake. Spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan lightly with cooking spray. If you prefer, you can grease the pan with shortening or butter.

Mash bananas. In a large mixing bowl, mash the four bananas. We usually use a potato masher or pastry cutter; a fork works well, too. Scrape the mashed bananas into a measuring cup to make sure you have 1 ½ cups. Bananas vary in size and you may have to remove a little or mash a little more to get the right amount.

Combine wet ingredients. Lightly beat the eggs in the mixing bowl until the whites and yolks are combined. Add the bananas back into the bowl, then stir in the oil, vanilla, and sugar. The mixture should be fairly smooth and blended together.

Add dry ingredients. Measure out the flour and put it into the bowl right on top of the banana mixture. Don’t stir it in yet. Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the flour and stir it lightly just to mix the dry ingredients together a bit. If you prefer, you could mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl first, but then you’d have another bowl to wash. Once the dry ingredients are blended together, stir the banana mixture and flour mixture together until just combined. You shouldn’t see any dry clumps of flour but don’t stir the batter more than necessary.

Add chocolate chips. Fold in the chocolate chips. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the top. Sprinkle with additional chocolate chips.

Bake. Put the bread into the preheated oven to bake for approximately 45 minutes. Test the bread with a toothpick inserted into the center. It should come out fairly clean with no batter sticking to the toothpick. If you happen to stab a chocolate chip, try another spot.

Cool. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes or so. Tip the pan to remove the bread and cool it right side up on a wire rack before slicing. As you can see from the photos, the chocolate chips in our bread were a little soft and gooey yet. We love it that way but the chocolate chips will firm up when the bread is completely cool.

Serve. Enjoy a slice of chocolate chip banana bread with a glass of cold milk or a cup of coffee or tea. If you love the chocolate banana combination, serve the bread with a chocolate banana milkshake!

Ways to change it

• Add-ins: Substitute milk chocolate chips or white chocolate chips, if you like. Peanut butter chips or butterscotch tips would give your bread an entirely different vibe. We've also made this recipe with a cup of unsweetened flaked coconut and ½ cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips and that’s a great combination, too. Add toasted pecans or walnuts if you like.
• Double chocolate banana bread: To go with the chocolate vibe, you could make our chocolate banana bread with added chocolate chips.
• Make muffins: Divide the batter into 12 large greased muffin tins. Bake the muffins in a preheated oven (350°F) for 14 to 16 minutes (refer to our recipe for banana bread muffins).

Keeping leftovers

Store: Cool the bread completely before storing in an airtight container or resealable bag. You can store it whole or sliced for accessibility. It will keep on the counter for a few days. If your kitchen is warm, store it in the refrigerator.

Freeze: This banana bread freezes well too, for up to 3 months. We almost always double the recipe and wrap one loaf in foil, put it in a freezer zip-top bag and freeze, either whole or sliced for straightforward access.

• Yield: 10
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 50 minutes
• Total: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 bananas, depending on size)
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• ¼ cup mini chocolate chips, optional (for topping)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mash bananas (we use a potato masher). Measure the mashed bananas to make sure you have 1 ½ cups.
3. Add sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Stir well to combine.
4. On top of the banana mixture, add flour. Make a small well in the flour and add baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir gently to mix the dry ingredients into each other on top of the wet ingredients; then stir everything together until batter is just combined.
5. Fold in chocolate chips.
6. Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan, smoothing top. Evenly sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top of batter, if using.
7. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean or with a few crumbs clinging.
8. Transfer loaf pan to a wire rack and let cool 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and cool completely before slicing.

Notes

This bread freezes well. We almost always double the recipe (just make sure you have a lot of ripe bananas!) and wrap one loaf in foil, then put in a freezer zip-top bag and freeze.

Recipe revised and retested 9/2024. Previously published as Lighter Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Coconut.