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If you’re looking for the BEST Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe you’re in the right place – this is my favorite banana bread with tons of chocolate chips. It’s easy, moist, and so chocolatey – it will become your favorite thing in the world!
BEST Banana Bread Recipe
I’ve loved warm and gooey banana bread since I was a little girl when my mom would make it on Saturday mornings. We’d all crowd into the kitchen barely waiting for the bread to cool before we attacked it with butter that would melt and drip because the bread was still hot from the oven.
This is her easy banana bread recipe with TONS of chocolate – you might look at it and think it’s dessert but it’s perfectly acceptable as breakfast (banana chocolate chip cookies anyone?) or an afternoon snack. It’s simple to make with her secret ingredient and has the perfect moist texture and banana flavor you expect – and it’s epic with all that chocolate.
Ingredients Needed
- Bananas – the most important part. Use over ripe bananas with lots of brown spots.
- Fat – butter or oil. I love using unsalted butter, but you can also use equal parts vegetable oil or liquid coconut oil.
- Sugar – I use granulated sugar in all my banana bread recipes, but you can swap light or dark brown sugar if you prefer.
- Milk – some banana bread recipes use sour cream or yogurt, but I use sour milk (aka Buttermilk). This is my mom’s secret ingredient! I don’t usually have sour milk on hand, so you can use any kind of milk and I add vinegar (or lemon juice).
- Baking soda – this recipe uses baking soda instead of baking powder. The acid in the sour milk or buttermilk helps to activate the baking soda causing a nice rise in the loaf.
- Chocolate – Use your favorite kind of chocolate chips or chocolate chunks in this recipe. I love semi-sweet chocolate chips but you can also use mini chocolate chips.
How to make Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Mash your bananas with a fork in a large bowl.
- Cream your butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, then mix in the eggs and mashed bananas.
- Whisk in the baking soda, flour, and milk (or milk and vinegar) and mix until it’s nice and thick.
- Then add your chocolate chips.
- Spoon banana bread batter to a pan that’s been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake until it’s nice and cracked on the top and a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs from the center of the crack.
Expert Tips
- Pan Size: I recommend using a 9×5-inch or 10×6-inch baking pan for this bread. Or, use two 8×4-inch pans or three mini loaf pans.
- You can make chocolate chip banana muffins using muffin pans.
- You can substitute soy or almond milk in this bread, but add 1 teaspoon of vinegar so the baking soda is activated.
- It will brown a lot on the outside while it’s baking. If it’s browning too much, reduce the oven temperature by 25°.
- Did you know you can freeze your overripe bananas? I always tend to over buy bananas and they go brown before I eat them. Pop them in the freezer – then let your frozen bananas thaw when you’re ready to bake with them.
Storing and Freezing
Store banana bread covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze the whole loaf for up to 3 months. I’ll also slice the cooled bread and freeze slices in sandwich bags for easy grab-and-g snacks.
FAQ
This happens when the bread is not done in the center and it will collapse along the crack. Make sure to test the bread in the center of the crack and the toothpick should come out with just a few crumbs sticking to it.
Test the bread in the center of the crack with a toothpick – it should come out with just a few crumbs sticking to it.
This happens because the chocolate chips are heavier than the batter. Don’t stir them in – fold gently, plus add more on top before baking. You can also toss the chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon of flour to help them not sink.
This can happen when you use a dark coated pan and/or your oven is too hot. If you notice the bread getting too dark, lower the oven temperature to 325°F or tent the pan with aluminum foil. Often ovens cook differently so watch your bread the first time you make it.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 medium overripe bananas
- 2 large eggs
- 7 tablespoons sour milk or buttermilk (To make sour milk: add 1 teaspoon vinegar to milk and let sit 5 minutes)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups (248g) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (340g) chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9x5with nonstick cooking spray. You can use an 8×4-inch loaf pan and make 1-2 muffins alongside.
- Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer (and hand mixer is okay too).
- Add the bananas, eggs, sour milk, salt, and baking soda to a blender. Mix until liquefied. Alternately, mash the bananas with a fork and then stir the eggs, milk, and baking soda into the bananas.
- Pour half of the banana mixture into the butter mixture with 1 cup of flour and mix until just combined. Repeat with the rest of the liquid and flour. Do not overmix!
- Stir in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips.
- Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips. Bake approximately 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean (test right next to the crack).
- Cool at least 10 minutes in pan.
Recipe Notes
- Pan Size: I recommend using a 9×5-inch or 10×6-inch baking pan for this bread. Or, use two 8×4-inch pans or three mini loaf pans.
- You can make chocolate chip banana bread muffins using muffin pans.
- You can substitute soy or almond milk in this bread, but add 1 teaspoon of vinegar so the baking soda is activated.
- It will brown a lot on the outside while it’s baking. If it’s browning too much, reduce the oven temperature by 25°.
- Cooling: Let it cool a bit before slicing or the chocolate chips will create holes in the bread.
- I usually mash my bananas with a fork but you can also use a blender for all the wet ingredients.
- Did you know you can freeze your overripe bananas? I always tend to over buy bananas and they go brown before I eat them. I always freeze them so I can make banana bread whenever I want.
Recipe Nutrition
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Variations
- Milk: use buttermilk OR use milk + 1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice. You can also use nondairy milk and add 1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice.
- Gluten Free Banana Bread: you can use 1:1 Gluten Free All Purpose Flour in place of the flour
- Whole Wheat: make whole wheat banana bread using 1 cup all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat flour.
- Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread: Reduce chocolate chips inside batter to 1 cup and use 1/2 cup chopped nuts, either walnuts or pecans.
- Make Blueberry Banana Bread with fresh or thawed frozen berries.
- Turn these into banana muffins by baking in a muffin pan with liners (makes 12).
Ok, I hope you aren’t like me and look at the comments before trying this recipe! I have a ceramic loaf pan and it turned into a… salvageable disaster! I did the toothpick test, just next to the crack like the said, and it came back clean. This was at 55 minutes, half way between her suggested end-time range. I let it cool, and when I went to flip it out (thank God onto a parchment sheet and cooling rack) it cracked and started falling apart because the middle was COMPLETELY RAW! There was probably 3/4 cup of raw dough, and my beautiful banana bread was disintegrating before my eyes! So I quickly fitted the loaf pan back over the bottom, grabbed the cooling tray, and flipped it back into the pan. I then covered the top in aluminum foil and let it cook in 10-minute increments until—using a KNIFE—it was done. It ended up taking about 30 more minutes to fully cook. For this type of pan, I would almost suggest bumping the temperature up to 375°F and checking around the 30 minute mark to make sure the top isn’t burning. When you believe the top it done, cover it in aluminum foil—this slows down the cooking of the top, while continuing to cook the center. I hope this helps!!!
I’m so sorry! It must be partially the pan. I know with pie dishes, ceramic cooks faster so it probably cooked the edges quicker than the center.
I am confused on checking oneness, it said recheck on the side of crack and then said in the center, which is correct
If you check in the crack it should come out with a few crumbs. On the side it will come out clean.
Hi..
Can I use brown sugar instead of white sugar?
Delicious! I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips and added a little cinnamon. We’ll gobble this loaf up in a couple of days, or maybe one, and I’ll bake another.
Do you think if I doubled this I could bake it in a bundt? TY!
I think so, yes. Usually 2 loaf pans = one bundt pan, so let me know how it turns out!
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