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My chocolate chip banana bread recipe is moist, fluffy, and bursting with mouthfuls of chocolate chips in every bite! It uses pantry staple ingredients and needs very little prep.
Table of Contents
Need an excuse to use those poor browning bananas in your kitchen cupboard?
While yes, you could make my healthy banana pancakes, nothing beats a warm loaf of fresh banana bread, especially when there’s chocolate involved!
Why I love this recipe
- The perfect texture. The bread is light and fluffy, and the half-melted chocolate chips add the perfect texture change to take it over the top.
- Wholesome. There are no eggs in this recipe, and it’s easy to make dairy-free AND gluten-free if desired.
- Minimal prep time. Seriously, the oven takes care of all the hard work, so there is very little hands-on time.
- Made in one bowl. And you know what that means? Clean-up is a breeze!
If you crave banana bread recipes like we do, try my strawberry banana bread, flourless banana bread, and protein banana bread next.
★★★★★ REVIEW
“This recipe is absolutely amazing! I even made it vegan, and it is still wonderful! def recommend” – Starlyn
Key Ingredients
- Ripe bananas. I find the browner the bananas are, the sweeter the banana flavor and overall loaf with me.
- All-purpose flour. You can use regular AP flour, white whole wheat flour, or gluten-free all-purpose flour if you prefer. I’ve successfully used all three.
- Sugar. I recommend sticking to white sugar or using part white and part brown sugar. Using all brown sugar will yield a heavier loaf with a stronger flavor.
- Baking soda. To help the bread rise.
- Salt. Just a pinch to balance the other ingredients.
- Unsalted butter. Replaces the need for oil in the recipe while keeping the bread buttery and super moist. I did test this with coconut oil and honestly found the butter better.
- Milk. Unsweetened almond milk is my standby, but any type of dairy or dairy-free milk works.
- Vanilla extract. A must for banana bread!
- Apple cider vinegar. This helps the bread rise and be fluffy without the need for eggs!
- Chocolate chips. I used a mix of semi-sweet chocolate chips and chocolate chunks to add a fun texture change. Be sure to reserve a few to top the bread.
- Walnuts. Optional, but highly recommended!
How to make chocolate chip banana bread
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Prep. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, reserving a few inches overhanging on each side.
Step 2- Mix. In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients (except the chocolate) and whisk to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts if using.
Step 3- Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle with extra chocolate chips, and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pan completely.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Run out of bananas? This recipe requires roughly 4 bananas, but if you come up short, make it up with unsweetened applesauce or pumpkin puree. I do this all the time!
- Don’t overmix the batter. The more you mix, the more air is lost, resulting in a dense loaf.
- Mash the bananas with a fork. I tested this and blending the bananas, and I found the fork method left some texture to the bananas and made for a moister loaf.
- Toss the chocolate chips in flour. To keep them from sinking to the bottom.
- Cover the bread with aluminum foil. If you notice the top of the bread is browning before the center is cooked, lightly tent it in foil around the 30-minute mark.
Frequently asked questions
To combat this, you should ALWAYS fold through the chocolate chips at the end of the recipe preparation, instead of all at once. Alternatively, you can toss the chocolate chips in a few tablespoons of flour. This stops them from sinking to the bottom.
Yes, you can cook or bake banana chocolate chip bread in a glass pan, but be wary that the heat distributes differently. To combat this, bake the banana bread at 170C/325F to compensate.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour gluten-free, if necessary
- 1 cup sugar * See notes
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups banana approximately 4 bananas
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup walnuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, reserving a few inches on each side overhanging.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and mix well. Add your mashed bananas, softened butter, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar and mix of choice, and mix until just combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold through your chocolate chips of choice.
- Transfer your batter into the lined loaf pan. Top with extra chocolate chips and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out just clean from the center.
- Remove banana chocolate chip bread and allow to cool in the pan completely.
Notes
- Oven. Bake them at 150C/300F for 10-15 minutes (in their peels) and let them cool completely before using.
- Overnight. The night before, place them in a brown paper bag. By the morning, they’ll be ripened.
- Microwave. Microwave the bananas in their peels in 30-second intervals until soft. Let them cool completely.
Nutrition
More baking with bananas
Originally published February 2023, updated and republished August 2024
For what do you actually use vinegar?
Walnuts suit the best here? What about almonds?
I’ve tried your almond flour banana bread…really good. Just wondering if I can make this one with almond flour. I’m paleo.
Thanks!
I’ve tried other egg free banana bread recipes and they were always dry-until I found this recipe! I’ve made this banana bread multiple times and it always turns out great. I use gluten free Namaste flour, no sugar, dairy free milk, add ground cinnamon, and replace the butter with coconut oil (1:1 so 1/2 cup of coconut oil. Warm up the milk before hand and mix it in with the coconut oil to keep it from solidifying). Thank you for the recipe!
I was searching for a moist vegan banana bread recipe and this turned out great! I used gluten free Namaste flour, no
sugar, and added cinnamon. Delicious! Thanks got the recipe.
This recipe is absolutly amazing! I even made it vegan, still wonderful! def recommend!