Chocolate Banana Bread
Updated April 09, 2020
This easy Chocolate Banana Bread is moist, tender, and a chocolate lovers dream! It is the BEST banana bread recipe.
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Pin ItI 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
Equipment
- 9 x 5 Loaf Pan (This Le Crueset one is so pretty!)
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.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
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Excellent! I adjusted it for allergies, so used a mixture of gluten-free flours – which made it a bit crumbly. I also added walnuts, which gave a nice variation in textures, as well as some protein, fiber and good fats. Was so decadent and wonderful!
Absolutely delicious! I used black cocoa powder instead of Dutch cocoa! Added one more banana and 1/2 cup butter instead of a 1/4
Perfect!
Followed recipe exactly and it turned out perfect! Thanks!!
Oh good! It’s my favorite.
Wow, really great! I had a ton of brown bananas that I had to use, so I tripled the recipe. The only changes were that I used bread flour (that’s all I had), peanut oil (but only because I didn’t look at the label and thought it was veg oil… didn’t realize until days later, lol), and plain ol’ Hershey’s cocoa powder. Greased the pan with butter. Baked a full hour. Result was moist and tasty. Thanks!
I am glad you loved the bread.
Hello Maria.
I tried this recipe as it was. It came out perfect, so moist and decadent. Thank you for sharing your recipe. God bless you.
This was unbelievably delicious. I used my favorite gluten free flour and coconut oil and it came out perfect! My only issue was getting it out of the loaf pan. I may not have waited long enough for it to cool down because it broke when I turned it out of the pan. And for my other loaf (I doubled the recipe so I could give a loaf to my neighbors), I turned it upside down, which flattened out the melty chocolate chips on top. Any tips for how to get the “bread” out of the pan without these issues? Like I said – delicious – just not as pretty as yours!
Turn it carefully onto it’s side or you can lift it out with parchment paper.
Can’t taste banana, but it’s a nice chocolate cake
This is so moist and yummy! My kids love it and it’s now a staple in our home (bake it every week).
It is a staple recipe at our house too!
I am interested in this recipe, but nutritional info was not included. Are you able to send them please
Really outstanding. Followed the recipe exactly. The recipe isn’t too sweet, uses minimal dairy, and has an intense chocolate flavor that makes it decadent, even without a ton of sugar or butter. I would like to know how many servings this is and it would be great to have nutritional information.
The flavor was delicious. Do have a question, though. It doesn’t seem like enough batter for a 9×5 pan though. I used the size that was specified in the recipe, but it came out flatter than I would’ve liked. Is that normal?
It works for me, but you can try a slightly smaller loaf pan!
If you used dutch-processed cocoa powder, you can try swapping the baking soda for baking powder instead and that might help. Unlike regular cocoa powder, dutch cocoa is not acidic. Baking powder unlike baking soda is acidic, so it will help provide the needed acidity to the recipe; which should help with the bread rising.
I’ve used this recipe for years! it’s always a hit. I like to add pecans and for this last batch, I made into muffins. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
My favorite! Muffins are great too!
I looove itttt!!! Super chocolatey, moist, tender, and rich! Also has the perfect sweet balance.
I made this with a bit of a switch, which is that I swapped about 3/4 of a cup of chocolate chips for peanut butter chips, and the rest was semi-sweet chocolate, and it turned out delicious!
Btw. 1 1/2 c banana weighed out 360g in case you wanted to know;)
Also flour was 120g, and cocoa powder 50g.
Yay! Thanks for sharing!
This recipe is so moist and tasty – my co-workers totally enjoyed it!
This recipe looks and sounds absolutely delicious, especially reading the reviews! I have to use an air fryer because of my living circumstances, which has been fine for baking, but it means that I can’t fit a loaf pan into it. I do have a beautiful Bundt cake pan and I’m wondering if you have any ideas on how long I might bake it? I’m guessing that it might be similar to the bread pan…
Thanks for your help and all your wonderful recipes!
I have never tried it in an air fryer. I would check early to be safe. Let me know if you try it. I would love to hear how it turns out.
My son and I really liked this recipe. It’s the first chocolate banana bread I’ve ever made. I usually just add chocolate chips to my grandmas banana bread or zucchini bread recipe. This though was fantastic with the sea salt crunch. So very moist as well.
My sister made this and gave a loaf to me. it is the BEST banana bread I uave ever had! So moist, so chocolatey, almost fudgy, and positively DELICIOUS!! I plan to make this but I want to tweak the recipe just a tad by browning the butter first.
Oooh yum! Glad you loved the bread!
I made a few different banana breads this week, those bananas needed to be used up after a Costco haul lol
This bread sounded amazing, and it was!!! For ME!! However, my husband said something tasted sour to him, like lemon, which I didn’t put in there and also I don’t taste anything sour or acidic. Any idea what it could be? He did say it was good, but the other bread got his vote. Oh well, you already know this one got mine!! Thanks for sharing! I’m puzzled what hubby is tasting tho lol. We use organic flour, high quality salt and farm eggs.
Amazing!
The best!
This was an amazing recipe – thank you for sharing my family loves it.
You are welcome!
This is by far the best chocolate banana bread I’ve ever had! I substituted honey for the brown sugar comes out amazing and I’ve also added peanut butter about 1 cup for that extra yummy.
Love it so much thank you!
It is my favorite!
This is my go to recipe for bananas that need to be used up. I make three small loaves and put one or two in the freezer (though they rarely stay there for long). I rarely bake these days but do make this frequently. SO good!
It is one of my favorite recipes! I am glad you love it too!