Chocolate Banana Bread
If you loved my Classic Banana Bread and you love chocolate, you’re going to love chocolate banana bread. It’s the last recipe for banana month and it’s just as easy as classic banana bread.
It looks like chocolate bread with a banana flavor and the chocolate chips give it a slightly more fudgy texture but it’s not gummy. It’s the perfect treat to have with your morning coffee.
Ingredient Notes & Subsitutions:
- Bananas: Bananas should be measured in either grams or cups because they are not all created equal in size. You will need 400 grams or about 1 ¾ cup of mashed banana. To get this you can use:
- 3 large ripe bananas
- 4 medium sized bananas
- If I’m a little short of 400g, I add a little water to make up the difference.
- Eggs: It’s best to use room temperature eggs. If you forget to take them out ahead of time, warm them in hot water for 5-10 minutes.
- Sugar: I upped my sugar a little bit because the cocoa powder makes it a little more bitter. If you want it less sweet, you can cut out 1/4 cup of the sugar and switch to dark chocolate chips.
- Fat: I use vegetable oil or canola oil but you can use any neutral oil or even avocado or olive oil in this recipe.
- Liquid: I used Greek yogurt to justify eating half the loaf for breakfast, LOL. If you don’t have any, you can use sour cream too.
- Flour: I used all-purpose flour but realistically cake or bread flour will work fine in a pinch too. I replaced some of the flour with cocoa powder to make it extra fudgy.
- Cocoa Powder: I use unsweetened dutch process cocoa powder for a dark color and richer taste but you can also use unsweetened natural cocoa powder.
- Baking Powder: I tend to reach for baking powder when developing recipes but baking soda should also work fine (especially if you use natural cocoa powder as it will be even more acidic). I would do 3/4 tsp baking soda in place of the baking powder.
I highly recommend using a digital scale anytime when measuring flour or bananas because flour is often over measured and bananas can range a lot in size.
The steps with photos
There are a few changes to the ingredients to make it chocolate flavored but the steps are essentially the same as classic banana bread.
- First, mash all the bananas until they look pureed and not chunky.
- In a large bowl you mix the wet ingredients
- Add in the mashed bananas and mix until it’s well combined.
- Fold in the dry ingredients just until most of the flour is mixed in.
- Then fold in the chocolate chips and pour it into the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for about 75 minutes, until the top is set, it springs back when you press on it and a toothpick comes out a little fudgy but not wet batter.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Your bananas should at least have brown spots. The riper they are, the sweeter and softer they are. The best is when the peel is fully brown but the inside is still yellow and soft.
Yes! If you don’t have dutch-process, there is no need to make an extra trip to the grocery store. If you use natural cocoa powder, it would be a good idea to use some baking soda to cut some of the acidity. You could do 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp baking powder OR just 3/4 tsp baking soda, instead of the 1 Tbsp of baking powder.
How to store banana bread
You can store the bread on the counter at room temperature for 3-4 days.
You can also freeze it by slicing it, wrapping each slice individually with plastic wrap and then placing them in a freezer bag. It can freeze for 2-3 months. To serve, thaw your bread at room temperature or microwave it on low power (defrost setting) for 30 seconds.
Thanks so much for reading today’s post! If you have any questions just comment down below!
If you love this recipe, I would love it if you left a 5-star rating or a review as well. & before you go, I also think you should know, I have a reader-favorite brownie recipe made with bananas as well.
As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!
Love, B
This looks delightful! Have you ever tried this with gluten free flour? Most of the time I am able to substitute cup-for-cup GF flour and measuring makes it more accurate. But each GF flour is made up of different starches that weigh various amts.
Hi Leah, I haven’t tested this specific one but I have tried all my cakes and cookies with King Arthur 1:1 or Bobs Red Mill 1:1. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work for this too 🙂