Lighter Chocolate Banana Bread

At a glance

What stands out: Lighter chocolate banana bread is a reliable way to start your morning. It tastes great with coffee and kids love it, too. Although chocolate banana bread is definitely a sweet treat, this recipe includes lighter ingredients.

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

Banana bread is a classic, isn’t it? It is everyone’s go-to recipe when they have a few brown bananas sitting on the counter top that no one wants to eat. We go through a lot of bananas but occasionally a few get a little too speckled, especially in warmer weather.

It doesn’t happen often and if it does, we like to freeze ripe bananas for smoothies. We go through about 4 bunches of bananas a week (seriously!) so we often buy even more to ensure that there will be at least a few to turn into banana bread.

Lighter Chocolate Banana Bread

What makes it lighter? Perhaps we should clarify. This is a healthier chocolate banana bread recipe. It still falls into the treat category but it’s much lower in fat and sugar than most recipes, and it’s made with whole wheat flour. We've been making whole wheat banana bread for a long time and it is a family favorite.

It’s low in fat. Many baked goods have a lot more oil in them than you would think. Reduced fat banana bread uses a minimal amount of oil because we substitute applesauce to replace most of the oil. The bread is never dry because it has four mashed bananas and applesauce to provide plenty of tenderness and flavor.

Lots of chocolate! Just because it’s chocolate banana bread doesn’t mean it’s loaded with extra sugar. The unsweetened cocoa powder used for baking doesn’t contain any sugar. The chocolate chip topping is optional; the bread is tasty without it.

One bowl recipe. You can mash the bananas and mix the batter all in one large mixing bowl which means speedy and straightforward clean-up. You gotta love that!

What goes in

• Mashed bananas: You’ll need about 4 ripe bananas, depending on how large they are. Measure the bananas once they’re mashed so you know if you have 1 ½ cups of mashed bananas.
• Eggs: The batter contains a couple of eggs. It’s best if they’re at room temperature but don’t sweat it if they aren’t.
• Applesauce: We usually use a snack-size container of unsweetened applesauce. The applesauce replaces almost all of the oil usually found in speedy breads. The taste of the applesauce is indiscernible but it adds natural sweetness to the bread.
• Oil: You’ll only use 2 tablespoons of oil in this reduced-fat banana bread recipe. Most speedy bread recipes have much more oil, up to a cup. The applesauce and mashed bananas ensure that the bread will be soft and moist without a lot of added oil.
• Sugar: This recipe has ¾ cup of sugar. If your bananas are ripe (which makes them sweeter), you could decrease this to ½ cup if you like.
• Vanilla extract: Use real vanilla. not imitation vanilla which isn’t vanilla at all.
• Whole wheat flour: We use whole wheat flour in this speedy bread recipe which adds nutrition and fiber. Our family loves the flavor of whole wheat and we use it for much of our baking. If you prefer, you can substitute all-purpose flour or a combination of both kinds of flour.
• Cocoa powder: This chocolate banana bread includes cocoa powder for extra antioxidants. Yeah. For that reason. And for the great taste of cocoa. A standby part is that unsweetened cocoa powder doesn’t add hardly any calories.
• Chocolate chips: As you can see from the photos, the loaf of lighter banana bread is topped with a layer of chocolate chips. This is optional, of course, or you can go all out and stir in another cup of chips into the batter for double the chocolate pleasure!
• Baking soda, baking powder, salt: These are baking ingredients that are commonly used to make speedy breads and should be in your pantry.

How it comes together

Get ready. Turn the oven on to preheat to 350°F. It’s essential to have the oven preheated before you put the bread in to bake. Lightly grease a loaf tin.

Mix wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas. Measure the amount of mashed bananas in a large measuring cup, removing any excess or adding more if you need to. Put 1 ½ cups of the mashed banana back into the mixing bowl, add the egg, oil, applesauce, vanilla extract, and sugar, and mix until well-combined.

Add dry ingredients. Measure out the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, adding them to the top of the wet ingredients. Stir the dry ingredients lightly together to combine them, then fold them into the banana mixture. Stir just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. The batter may look a little lumpy but that’s okay.

Put batter into pan. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. If desired, sprinkle the top of the batter with chocolate chips.

Bake. Put the bread on the center rack of your oven and bake 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out fairly clean, without sticky batter clinging to it. Cool the bread for 10 minutes before carefully removing it from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Serve. Enjoy a slice of your lighter chocolate banana bread with a cup of coffee or tea, or even better, a cinnamon dolce latte. The chocolate bread doesn’t need any embellishments but a smear of vanilla whipped cream cheese would be good!

Ways to change it

• Use all-purpose flour. You don’t have to make the bread whole wheat. It will turn out well with regular flour or even a combination of both types.
• Add more chocolate. If we're feeling extravagant, we add a cup of chocolate chips to the batter, too. Mini chocolate chips work well, too.
• Make small loaves or muffins. The batter can be divided up to make 3 small loaves of bread, or a batch of muffins, if you prefer. The instructions are on the recipe card below.

Keeping leftovers

Room Temp/Refrigerate: Cool the lighter chocolate banana bread completely before storing it in an airtight container or resealable bag. Slice it before you store it to make it more accessible. It will keep on the counter for a few days but if your kitchen is warm, store it in the refrigerator.

Freeze: Banana bread freezes well for up to 3 months and we often make two loaves so that we have one to pull out of the freezer when the first loaf has been eaten. Wrap it well so it doesn’t dry out in the freezer.

banana Bread and Muffin Recipes

• Banana Bread Muffins
• Whole Wheat Banana Muffins with Streusel
• Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
• Triple Chocolate Banana Muffins
• Lighter Banana Bread

• Yield: 10
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 1 hour
• Total: 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 bananas, depending on size)
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce (or 1 snack size container)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole wheat flour (can use all-purpose flour or a combination)
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips, optional

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, eggs, sugar, applesauce, oil and vanilla extract.
3. On top of wet ingredients, add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix dry ingredients together gently before stirring into wet ingredients. Stir just until blended. Do not overmix.
4. Spread batter evenly into prepared loaf pan. If desired, sprinkle top with chocolate chips.
5. Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick or knife inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out almost clean or with a few crumbs (if you added chocolate chips, try to avoid them when you test it!)
6. Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes before removing bread from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing it.

Notes

Small loaves/muffins: If you prefer, divide the batter between 3 small loaf pans, approx. 5 x 3 inches. Bake for 25 minutes or until done. The batter can also be made into muffins. Bake 14 to 16 minutes or until done.

Storage: Cool the bread completely before slicing and storing it. The bread will keep at room temperature for a few days, or it can be refrigerated for longer storage. It can be frozen for up to 3 months. We usually slice the entire loaf before storing it for easier access.