When the bananas on your counter get too ripe and soft to enjoy on their own, it’s the perfect time to make chocolate chip banana bread! You only need staple ingredients and a few bowls to mix the batter, and your kitchen will smell amazing in just an hour.
What is chocolate chip banana bread?
Technically, banana bread is not a real bread. It’s actually a loaf cake or quick bread. “Quick bread” refers to cakes made by mixing dry and wet ingredients separately, combining them, and baking the batter in a loaf pan. These cakes are easy to make and don’t require any special mixing techniques or equipment. Despite their simplicity, they can be incredibly tasty, soft, and moist. In the case of banana bread, bananas are the main reason for its rich flavor and moist texture.
Why will you love this recipe?
This is one of my recipes that underwent a crazy number of changes before being published. After trying different ingredients and varying proportions, I kept this recipe to its essence, making it as simple as possible and truly delicious. In the final version, there is nothing unnecessary; I did not use any ingredients that did not significantly improve flavor or texture. This cake is very moist yet stable in structure. If you measure ingredients correctly, you can be sure that your banana bread will not sink.
Chocolate chip banana bread ingredients
Bananas are the star of this recipe. Their juice and mashed flesh create the signature flavor and make this cake incredibly moist. For the best flavor, use well-ripened bananas with small black spots or larger blackened areas on the peel. Also, it is essential to weigh the bananas after peeling them. Since they grow on trees and are not produced in a factory, they truly vary in size. If you add too much banana, your cake may be too heavy and sink. If you add too little, your cake may be dry and have a weaker flavor.
Baking powder. Because banana bread batter is moist and quite heavy, it requires a lot of baking powder to rise properly. Baking powder creates a vertical lift in the cake.
Baking soda. If there’s already baking powder, why do we need baking soda? The reaction between baking soda and the molasses in brown sugar creates air bubbles in the batter, resulting in a light, soft crumb texture. You would not achieve the same result with baking powder alone. Baking soda also promotes browning, giving banana bread its deep brown crust.
Light brown (demerara) sugar. Molasses in brown sugar deepens the flavor and, being acidic, reacts with baking soda, improving the texture of the cake. You can use American-style brown sugar, but I don’t recommend replacing it with white sugar. Although bananas are slightly acidic, there is not enough acidity to react with the amount of baking soda in the recipe. Without molasses, your banana bread will be denser and have a soapy aftertaste.
Refined olive oil. There’s just enough of it to make the cake richer and tastier without making it too mushy. Too much fat can easily weigh down banana bread and cause it to sink. I prefer using oil instead of butter in cakes with mashed fruit because it keeps the crumb lighter. However, you can swap the oil for melted butter if you prefer. The recipe will still work, and the change in flavor will not be very noticeable. After all, the main flavor in this recipe comes from bananas.
Chocolate. I chop a chocolate bar into chunks for my banana bread, but chocolate chips work just as well. Use whatever chocolate you have on hand or can find easily. What’s the difference? Chopped chocolate melts easily, while chocolate chips are designed to keep their shape during baking. So, if you don’t want melted chocolate spreading when you cut your banana bread, chocolate chips are the better choice for you.
Eggs. My banana bread recipe has a higher egg ratio than most, as I wanted the cake to be moist yet stable. Moist cakes are often on the edge of sinking, so I added an extra egg to provide more structure without drying out or densifying the cake, as more flour would do.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Beginner Friendly
This incredibly moist yet stable chocolate chip banana bread has intense banana flavor and is super easy to make.
Perform time: 10 min
Bake time: 60 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Ingredients
Choose a baking pan size:
Yield: 10 servings
- 200 g / 7 oz wheat flour (all-purpose or plain)
- 1½ tsp / 10 g baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 100 g / 3.5 oz chocolate (~50%)
- 320 g / 11.2 oz ripe bananas (weigh after peeling)
- 160 g / 5.6 oz light brown sugar (unrefined, Demerara)
- 3 medium eggs (~150 g / 5.3 oz)
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 80 g / 2.8 oz refined olive oil
- Extra half of a banana to decorate (optional)
Yield: 7 servings
- 135 g / 4.7 oz wheat flour (all-purpose or plain)
- 1 tsp / 7 g baking powder
- ⅓ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 65 g / 2.3 oz chocolate (~50%)
- 215 g / 7.5 oz ripe bananas (weigh after peeling)
- 110 g / 5.6 oz light brown sugar (unrefined, Demerara)
- 2 medium eggs (~100 g / 3.5 oz)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 50 g / 1.8 oz refined olive oil
- Extra half of a banana to decorate (optional)
Yield: 10 servings
- 200 g / 7 oz wheat flour (all-purpose or plain)
- 1½ tsp / 10 g baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 100 g / 3.5 oz chocolate (~50%)
- 320 g / 11.2 oz ripe bananas (weigh after peeling)
- 160 g / 5.6 oz light brown sugar (unrefined, Demerara)
- 3 medium eggs (~150 g / 5.3 oz)
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 80 g / 2.8 oz refined olive oil
- Extra half of a banana to decorate (optional)
Directions
1.
Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, then preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F (without a fan).
2.
In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well and set aside.
3.
Use a knife to chop the chocolate into chunks. Set it aside.
4.
Mash ripe bananas with a fork. There will be lots of small lumps left; it’s totally fine.
5.
Transfer the mashed bananas to a mixing bowl. Add the light brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix everything well.
6.
Add the refined olive oil and mix it in.
7.
Sift in the flour mixture and add the chocolate chunks. Mix just until combined or no dry flour is visible.
8.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Decorate the top with half of a banana that has been sliced lengthwise.
9.
Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 50-60 minutes, or until the top is evenly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with some melted chocolate on it but no sticky batter.
Extra tips for success
- Since bananas vary in size, it’s important to weigh them and use exactly as much as needed. Using too much banana flesh might cause your cake to sink.
- Don’t use a blender to mash your bananas. Although it’s quick, the powerful blades will pulverize the bananas completely, releasing too much pectin into the batter. Highly concentrated pectin acts as a gelling agent and can result in a dense or gummy final cake texture.
- Also, try not to overmix the batter after adding the dry ingredients because mixing develops gluten. Too much gluten will make your banana bread gummy and dry. Stop mixing once there is no visible dry flour left.
- You can use any other mild-tasting oil. I prefer refined olive oil because of its clean flavor.
- I don’t recommend replacing brown sugar with white sugar because the flavor and texture will suffer. However, if you absolutely must use white sugar, add an extra teaspoon of lemon juice when mixing the wet ingredients to ensure that the baking soda fully reacts.
Storage directions
Store the leftover banana bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
