This easy Chocolate Banana Bread is moist, tender, and a chocolate lovers dream! It is the BEST banana bread recipe.
I am super excited to share this Chocolate Banana Bread recipe with you today. I have been testing the recipe for a few weeks and it is finally perfection. It is probably the best banana bread in the history of all banana breads…if you like chocolate. But who doesn’t like chocolate? If you don’t, I am not sure we can be friends. Just kidding, we can be friends because that means I can eat your slice of Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread:)
It has taken me a few weeks to get this recipe absolutely perfect because we keep running out of bananas. Our boys are little monkeys and I can’t keep enough bananas in the house to bake banana bread. Last week, I hid some bananas in the back of the pantry so the boys wouldn’t find them. The bananas turned brown and I used them to make this EPIC loaf of Chocolate Banana Bread. I nailed the cocoa banana bread recipe this time. It is absolutely perfect!
So what makes this banana bread so special?
- Well, first the chocolate, duh. Chocolate makes everything better. It is made with Dutch process cocoa and chocolate chips. I use Dutch process cocoa because the chocolate flavor is so intense. The bread has chocolate chips in the loaf and on top. YES!
- Next, the bananas. Obviously, it is banana bread. Overripe bananas are the key. If you have to hide bananas to get them to turn brown, do it. When I first made the recipe, I only used one cup of mashed bananas and the bread was good, but not great. I increased the bananas to 1 ½ cups mashed bananas and BINGO! It is the perfect banana/chocolate ratio. The bananas make the bread super moist and you can still taste the bananas. I like chocolate, but it is chocolate BANANA bread so I wanted to be able to taste the bananas too. 1 ½ cups mashed bananas is the magic number.
- This recipe also calls for melted unsalted butter AND oil. The butter gives the bread a nice flavor and the oil keeps the bread extra moist. The combo produces a tender crumb with great flavor.
- I used brown sugar and only brown sugar in this recipe because again, I wanted the bread to be super moist and brown sugar keeps baked goods more moist because of the molasses content. And I know, I have used the word moist a million times in this post and I am sorry, but the bread is really moist and I promise that is a really good thing.
- Another key ingredient is sea salt. I tried the recipe with regular salt and again, it was good, but not great. I used sea salt this last time and it was the kicker, literally. I loved getting little kicks of salt with the chocolate. Sweet and salty is my jam!
- Make sure you don’t overbake the bread. Take it out of the oven when a toothpick comes out clean or cleanish. If you hit a chocolate chip, there will be melted chocolate on the toothpick. Don’t let that fool you for the batter. You don’t want to overbake the loaf. You might need to test the bread in a few spots.
- Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then let it cool on a wire rack until warm. Slice and enjoy every last crumb.
This Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread is the ultimate banana bread. It is SO rich and divine. And it is bread so it is totally acceptable to eat a slice for breakfast. Or you can eat a slice as a 3 p.m. for a chocolate pick me up. Or you can eat a slice after dinner for dessert. Or you can eat a slice topped with ice cream at midnight. It is the BEST banana bread and I think you should make a loaf TODAY. I hope you have brown bananas handy.
Oh, and if you want to really impress your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day, make a loaf of this Chocolate Banana Bread. It is chocolate heaven and better than store bought chocolates or flowers because it is baked with LOVE! And I promise it is easy to make. And if you are a peanut butter fan, check out my Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread. You will FLIP over this recipe!
If you like this Chocolate Banana Bread, you might also like:
- Best Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Salted Caramel Cashew Banana Bread
- Buttermilk Banana Bread
- Zucchini Banana Bread
- Biscoff Banana Bread with Biscoff Cookie Streusel Topping
Chocolate Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 large brown bananas (1 ½ cups mashed)
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/4 cup canola vegetable oil, or melted coconut oil
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork. Add the melted butter and oil and stir until combined. Stir in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, don’t overmix. Stir in ¾ cup of the chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of chocolate chips over the top of the bread. Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean, you might have some melted chocolate chips on the toothpick and that is fine. You just don’t want a lot of gooey batter. Check at 50 minutes, just to be safe. Oven times vary.
- Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread and carefully remove from the pan. Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack until slightly warm. Cut into slices and serve.
- Note-the bread will keep on the counter, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 4 days. This bread also freezes well. To freeze, cool the bread completely and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost before slicing.
Have you tried this recipe?
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Hi only baking soda, no baking powder added as well?
Will be trying this recipe soon.
Thanks
Yes, just baking soda.
Could I use the same ingredients but make it in the bread machine instead?
Use the sweet/quick bread setting. Put mashed bananas in first, then wet ingredients, and top with dry ingredients. Once it is mixed, top with chips.
made millions of recipes from thousands of sites…and never left a review. made this the other day to use up some overly ripe bananas before going away for a few days. incredible is an understatement. absolutely delicious. everybody thought it was the best they ever had. wouldn’t change a thing. thanks.
Next level banana bread!
Wow, so moist and chocolatey, I’ve only served this bread as a dessert!
Delicious! Moist! I followed the recipe exactly as written. Amazing!
Glad you love the recipe.
Wonderful! Made it with gluten free flour and it came out perfect! I also added in pecans.
Pecans are a lovely addition.
Can you post the calorie and fat counts please
Amazingly fudge, crumbly and crispy chocolate banana bread. Would recommend.
Glad you loved the recipe.
Can I freeze it? looks amazing! definitely I will make it!
Yes!
Could you make this into a two layer cake?
Hi, thank you for the recipe. I’ve made it it twice now with a few adaptions that I thought I would share. The first time I made this I substituted the flour for wholemeal which I thought worked really well with it having chocolate in the recipe. I also used 2 eggs as mine were medium not large and this also worked ok. I used 75% chocolate and left out the sugar to see how that turned out as I’m trying to limit my kids sugar intake. This was the only downside to the cake as it wasn’t very sweet (the kids ate it with custard and still enjoyed it). So the second time I made it I did as before but added 60g (1/4 cup I think) of brown sugar. This was excellent and I’ll most likely stick with that or sub for maple syrup or honey in the same quantity. Thanks again – and for anyone working in Celsius, its 180*C (and a 2lb loaf tin).
Thanks for sharing.
I just tried this today since I had a few brown and squishy bananas on the counter. Delicious! I love how moist and dense and chocolatey it is! I don’t think it will last long enough to see how it is when it isn’t warm, LOL! I’ll try the chocolate peanut butter banana one next time. Thanks for the yum! (I used regular cocoa, but have added dutch process cocoa to my grocery list!)
Glad you loved the bread! We make it all of the time.
I made this banana bread for my guests along with another classic banana bread and this one stole the show! I replaced the oil with buttermilk and it turned out amazing! Definitely making again.
Glad you loved the recipe.
This recipe is so versatile. I’ve subbed whole wheat flour, applesauce instead of oil and decreased the brown sugar by 1/4 cup or more. Each time and any combo of substitutions works out perfectly delicious. I’d say, good bananas and good cocoa are the true stars. You can’t go wrong. Everyone I’ve made it for always loves it! I’ve made it in muffin and mini muffins too!
Delicious, chocolate perfection. I love banana bread and love brownies, this was the best of both worlds. Next time I’ll add some walnuts but loved it.
I’ve been using this recipe for years now and I always come back to it! Its beautiful, so so tasty and moist. When im short a banana or half, I add sour cream and it always works out just perfectly. Ive made this and lined my tin with parchment paper so i can take it out easier, because it always breaks when I try to take it out without parchment. Whats the trick to taking jt out, its the only step not really explained, how to take out the bread from the pan without messing up the chocolate chips on top or cracking it. Can you help?
Made this 2x already. So good! My family super loves this banana bread.
Awesome!
Omg this is the best recipe I’ve come across in a long while…definitely will be making it again. I also used this one for regular banana bread with walnuts..instead of the cocoa I substituted for flour and switched choc chips to walnuts…absolutely delightful!
So happy you loved the bread!
Lovely soft rich bread.
Beautiful.
Hi, Maria. Just a quick heads-up. When doubling or tripling the ingredients using the x2 or x3 buttons, above, the number of bananas changes (from 3 to 6 (or 9) but the volume (1½ cups mashed) does not. In other words, if doubling, the volume measurement should be 3 cups mashed and, if tripling, the volume measurement should be 4½ cups mashed. Otherwise, everything looks good. Bravo on perfecting the recipe.
So yummy!
I used my mini loaf pan and the recipe made 8 perfect little loaves (cook time was only 20 minutes). I reduced chocolate chips to 1/2 cup in the bread and 1/4 on top just to reduce calories a little and it was still very chocolaty and Ionly used 2 bananas.
Nice!
Did you use the same temp just shorter baking time? I love little loaves
Maria!
Two thumbs up for this recipe!
I have to admit that I am a bit of a chocoholic, and this is by far my favorite banana bread on this planet! It can be easily transitioned into “healthy” cupcakes, for a special birthday.
If you bake them as muffins/cupcakes, I suggest using paper liners. This recipe will divide out equally into 12 servings and will need about 18-19 minutes in the oven at 350°.
Substitutions: I have used hard margarine instead of butter, and it works perfectly. Sometimes I top off the top of the muffins with granular sugar to make them look like they are fresh from the bakery! They are very sweet, and don’t need very many chocolate chips to tempt your taste buds!
Thanks for the recipe!
Cheers
Courtney
I am so glad you love this recipe! It’s my favorite!
I did whole wheat flour, olive oil instead of canola, and no chocolate chips – these changes were just so it was a tad healthier and still a yummy treat. Just outstanding! Thank you!
Best banana bread EVER! My family loves when I make this recipe into muffins. Easy to grab for a quick breakfast.
Such a treat!
Thank you! I love this recipe sooo much as is. I can’t find my old regular banana bread recipe anywhere! Tried a similar one and didn’t like it as well. I was checking the reviews to see if I could swap equal parts flour for cocoa. Thanks for confirming that!
Thanks for an amazing recipe, Maria! I come back to it again and again!
You are welcome! We make this one all of the time.
I made these in a silicone mini pan and made 11 little squares. I cut the sugar down to 1/2 cup. Gave them to my husband to take to work and everybody loved them. So moist and delicious. They took 20 minutes to bake. Such an easy recipe to make.
Like eating slices of moist chocolate cake! Love it!!! I don’t want to brush my teeth because the taste in my mouth will be gone.
Ha!!
Best recipe EVER for using up ripe bananas. I would call it cake vs bread as I use it for a dessert and everyone absolutely loves it! It is one of my favorite go-to desserts!
Ha, it is more like a rich dessert:)
Delicious , for chocolate lovers amazing ! Dind have chips , dont need i think great recipe enjoy thanks for sharing
I made this tonight for my husband and toddler and it was easy and super delicious! I added a dash of cinnamon for flair because, well, I love cinnamon lol.
My son loves bananas so it was the perfect treat for him!
Soooooooo good. Make is now. You will not regret it. Super chocolate flavor and not too sweet. Light and fluffy. Also kiddo approved.
I made muffins instead of a loaf and they’re really good! I found that I needed 2 eggs to make the batter a bit runnier. I think next time I make them the only tweak I will do is adding more sugar.
Hi I’d love to make the chocolate banana bread but can you let me have measurements in grams as I dont understand cup sizes. Thanks Linda
Omg this is DELICIOUS!! Such an easy recipe. Super moist & I can definitely taste the banana along with the chocolate. Absolutely going to make this again & again. I posted it in my IG story with @ & #.
Can I use 100% Cocoa or do I need to use Dutch Cocoa?
regular unsweetened cocoa is fine!
Best banana bread ever!
It sure is!
If I use unsweetened cocoa powder, do I need to add more sugar?
Hi, would it be possible to have the measurements in grams?
Thanks
Can I make this in muffins? Any changes to recipe?
Yes, just reduce the baking time.
I’ve made this a couple of times. Tasty, but very crumbly. I can’t cut a clean slice, I end up with one larger chunk and about ten smaller bits to scoop up onto my plate.