Chocolate Banana Bread
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Rich, chocolaty, and loaded with banana flavor, this chocolate banana bread is as delicious as it is easy to whip up! Enjoy it as a breakfast treat, afternoon snack, or dessert—it’s perfect any time of day.
I usually think of banana bread as a breakfast treat (or, let’s be honest, something you grab a little slice of every time you pass through the kitchen). But this chocolate banana bread is so rich and decadent, you could easily top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and call it dessert. With chocolate chips and cocoa powder for a double dose of chocolate and sour cream to keep it irresistibly moist, this quick bread is always a family favorite.
“Exquisite, fabulous, hands down the most beautiful, moist, decadent, delicious, cake-like, chocolaty, awesome banana bread I’ve ever had.”
What You’ll Need To Make Chocolate Banana Bread
- All-Purpose Flour: The base of your chocolate banana bread. Measure it by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off to ensure accuracy.
- Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Adds a rich chocolate flavor. It’s important not to substitute this with Dutch-process cocoa powder due to differences in acidity.
- Baking Soda: Acts as a leavening agent, helping the banana bread rise.
- Unsalted Butter: Provides moisture and richness. Using it at room temperature ensures it creams well with sugar.
- Sugar: Adds sweetness and contributes to the bread’s tender texture.
- Large Eggs: Bind the ingredients together and add structure.
- Mashed Bananas: The star ingredient for moisture and flavor. Use very ripe, brown bananas for the best taste. To quickly ripen bananas, store them in a loosely sealed brown paper bag. (Overripe bananas can be frozen—simply peel and store them in a resealable bag in the freezer, ideally 2 to 3 bananas per bag, as this is the common amount used in recipes.)
- Sour Cream: Adds richness and ensures the banana bread is moist.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the overall flavor of the bread.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: Add gooey, chocolatey pockets to the bread. If you’d like, you can also add a handful of chopped nuts, like walnuts or pecans for extra texture and flavor. You can also substitute some of the chocolate chips with white chocolate or peanut butter chips for a different twist.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by Step Instructions
To begin, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk well and set aside.
In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, making sure to mix well after each addition.
Next, add the dry ingredients to the butter and egg mixture.
Beat gently until just combined, then mix in the mashed bananas, sour cream and vanilla.
Add the chocolate chips and fold with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated. Be sure not to overmix the batter.
Pour the chocolate banana bread batter into a greased loaf pan and spread evenly.
Bake until done, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Let the chocolate banana bread rest in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. The bread is best enjoyed fresh, but it can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for longer storage.
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Chocolate Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- ¼ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder, such as Hershey's (see note)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas, from 2 to 3 brown bananas
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set a rack in the middle position. Grease a 9 x 5-in (23 x 13-cm) loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk until there are no more lumps in the cocoa powder and the mixture is well combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or beaters, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, incorporating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients and beat gently until just combined. Add the bananas, sour cream and vanilla and mix on low speed to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let the loaf rest in the pan for about 10 minutes, run a blunt knife around the edges to loosen, then turn it out onto a rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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The smell of this Chocolate Banana Bread baking evokes a Pavlovian response from family members, who shuffle into the kitchen to stare at the timer on the oven. The only thing I do differently is use Ghirardelli tiny chocolate chips because they seem to get distributed throughout the loaf, rather than settling on the bottom.
Made this bread last week, it is delicious except for the fact that the Chocolate overpowers the Banana. I could taste some banana but it was almost like a flavoring. The the cake is very moist and tastes good especially if you like chocolate.
This is now a family favorite!! It is very moist and keeps well….I will definitely be making this again…Thanks Jen!!
This is a good recipe for Chocolate Banana Bread. I didn’t change a thing in the recipe, amount of sugar is just right. I baked it in two 8 x 4 pans at 325 degrees for 35 minutes. It turned out perfect, moist and chocolatey. I love the chocolate chips in the bread
Just made this and it is delicious! I doubled the recipe and used white whole wheat flour, plain yogurt for the sour cream, and only 1 1/4C sugar. Came out great! I also used double dutch dark cocoa powder from King Arthur Flour and it tasted just fine.
This is delicious! I did not have sour cream, so I substituted with cream cheese. I did not have chocolate chips either (because my kids used an entire bag to make chocolate balloon bowls last night) so I substituted with white chocolate chips. Personally, I think both of these additions to your wonderful recipe kept it just as delectable. I made two loaves; one is in the freezer. Thanks so much. xo Natalia
Also, I made my banana bread with 1 cup of sugar today but do you think it would turn out the same next time if I used any of these sugar substitutions: To replace 1 cup of white sugar you can substitute it for 3/4 cup honey, or 3/4 cups maple syrup or 2/3 cup agave or 1 teaspoon stevia.
Hi Misty, I wouldn’t recommend using honey or maple syrup in place of the sugar. And regarding other alternatives like agave or stevia, I don’t have enough experience with either of those to say confidently how they would impact the results. If you try either, I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Hi, why can’t honey or maple syrup be subbed here? Is it because of the butter? In which case, can we make your Healthy Banana bread (using coconut or olive oil and honey or syrup), then just add cocoa powder? Thank you for all your hard work!
Hi Elle, while a small portion of honey (or maple syrup) can be used in place of sugar in baked goods, honey browns much faster than sugar and can lead to burning. And for a bread like this one that is already dark in color because of the chocolate, it would be hard to tell if it is getting overly browned. Hope that clarifies! 🙂
It clarifies that you’re awesome. Thank you!
I just made this banana bread and it is truly delicious! (You are right…it tastes like moist chocolate cake!). What type of loaf pan do you use? (I am trying to read the wording in your photos but I can’t make it out). I have a stainless steel loaf pan that I buttered then sprayed with coconut oil, yet my banana bread stuck to the bottom of the pan which is not a problem for our family, but I would like to get a non-toxic loaf pan that I know will work for future loaves of bread. Thank you!
Hi Misty, glad to hear you enjoyed the banana bread! The loaf pan you see in the recipe photos is a KitchenAid one, but not sure they make it anymore. I recently bought a new loaf pan that I really like; it’s by USA Pan. Hope that helps!
Chocolate Banana Bread – The bread is wonderful and moist. When I make it I add chopped roasted pecans and omit the chocolate chips. I have made this recipe several times.
Excellent. I’m a retired chef, living at 7000′ altitude and rarely does any baking recipe NOT need adjustments. Took a chance, followed this as is. Perfect, done in 1 hour. Used extra dark chocolate chips, all I had on hand, guitars. This banana bread tastes great, as someone said, like a chocolate cake! Thanks!