Imagine a piece of indulgently rich chocolate cake paired with a flavorful slice of banana bread. Here we’re getting two fabulous baked goods together in one. This double chocolate banana bread is extra moist, undeniably fudge-like, and can satisfy even the biggest chocolate craving. It’s easy to make, too!
One reader, Katie, commented: “Amazing! I don’t think I can have banana bread any other way now. You still have the classic banana bread flavor but with the added chocolate. It’s moist and airy. So good! PS: slightly warm with some vanilla ice cream… OMG! ★★★★★“
I’ve made chocolate banana bread a few times over the past several years and have never been “wowed.” I really wanted to develop a recipe that delivered a decadent chocolate flavor with a moist, dense texture. After several tries, I landed on today’s chocolate chip-studded beauty, a loaf that lives up to my very popular and deeply loved classic banana bread recipe.
Here’s Why You’ll Love This Chocolate Banana Bread
- Uses simple, basic baking ingredients
- Batter comes together easily
- Stays moist for days, and also freezes well
- Dense, but not-too-heavy crumb
- Substantial chocolate flavor that doesn’t overpower the banana
- An anytime treat—enjoy with coffee, in the afternoon, or for dessert
Key Ingredients to Use & Why
Let me share a brief rundown of the ingredients you need and the purpose of each. Remember, baking is a science, and the select ingredients play a crucial role in the texture, moisture, flavor, and structure of your baked goods. I use many of the following ingredients in my double chocolate zucchini bread, too.
- Flour: Doesn’t seem like a lot of flour, and you’re right, it’s not. Keep in mind there’s also cocoa powder. Most of the volume in this batter comes from the banana.
- Cocoa Powder: Use unsweetened natural cocoa powder, not Dutch-process. Natural cocoa is an acidic ingredient and important in this recipe. Read about the difference between Dutch-process vs. natural cocoa powder.
- Softened Butter: Creaming softened butter with sugar provides a sturdy base for this double chocolate banana bread. Make sure your butter is room temperature, and not melted in the slightest. Remember, room-temperature butter means cool to the touch.
- Sour Cream or Yogurt: Adds moisture.
- Ripe Bananas: This recipe requires 4 medium or 3 large ripe bananas—the riper, the better. You can use thawed frozen bananas, too. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking. If you run out of bananas, you can substitute in some applesauce; I’d say up to 1/2 cup is a safe amount that won’t really affect the flavor or texture.
- Hot Water: Kind of random, right? Well, hot liquid helps cocoa powder bloom, or begin to release its flavor. Today’s batter was really thick, too, and I wanted a touch of liquid to thin it out.
You also need some basics like baking soda, salt, chocolate chips, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
Behind the Recipe Testing
I originally began making the bread with vegetable oil because cocoa powder can be very drying and oil brings more moisture than butter. I use oil in my chocolate cake and cream-filled chocolate cupcakes (two favorites!), so it seemed like the best choice. Every loaf was simply too light—it’s hard to describe, but the flavor did not match the texture. With the big, bold flavors of chocolate and banana, a light-crumbed baked good just doesn’t cut it! Once I switched to butter, it was easy to make a few tweaks to produce the delicious loaf you see today. I’d say creamed butter, sour cream, and hot water are game changers with this one.
Expect a thick batter and use a 9×5-inch loaf pan; an 8×4-inch pan is too small.
The chocolate banana bread takes about 60 to 65 minutes to bake. Begin checking for doneness at 60 minutes using a toothpick; if it comes out mostly clean with only a few moist crumbs, the bread is done.
You don’t have to wait too long for this quick bread to cool; at least 1 to 2 hours is enough. Just wait until you slice into the warm loaf with all those melty chocolate chips inside.
And my last piece of advice: try a slice with a generous swipe of peanut butter! Then go try this peanut butter chocolate chip zucchini bread next. 🙂
Yes, you can use frozen bananas in this recipe. Thaw the frozen bananas. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed below. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking.
Yes, absolutely. I have detailed instructions in the recipe Notes below.
There isn’t enough batter, and I haven’t tested scaling the recipe up. Instead, I recommend using my extremely similar, scaled-up recipe for chocolate marble banana Bundt cake.
Other Favorite Banana Recipes:
- Banana Cake & Banana Cupcakes
- Banana Cream Pie
- Banana Muffins & Blueberry Banana Muffins
- Banana Chocolate Chip Streusel Muffins
- Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
Double Chocolate Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes (includes slight cooling)
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This double chocolate banana bread is moist and fudge-like, and comes together quickly with a couple bowls and a loaf pan. See recipe Notes for freezing instructions and how to turn the loaf into chocolate banana muffins.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups (156g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 cup (41g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (135g) semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus 2 Tablespoons (22g) for topping
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60g) plain yogurt or sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas (about 4 medium or 3 large ripe bananas)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) hot water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together until combined. Mix in 3/4 cup (135g) chocolate chips. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then beat in the yogurt, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract until combined. Add the dry ingredients and hot water, and beat on low speed until combined. Batter is thick. Do not over-mix.
- Pour and spread the batter into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top, down the center of the loaf.
- Bake for 60–65 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent the top from drying out. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs. This may be after 60–65 minutes depending on your oven, so begin checking around the 60-minute mark, at 5-minute intervals.
- Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan set on a wire rack for at least 1 to 2 hours before removing, slicing, and serving.
- Cover and store bread at room temperature for 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Banana bread tastes best on day 2 after the flavors have settled together.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze baked & cooled loaf, tightly wrapped, for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. If desired, bring to room temperature before serving. To learn more details about how to freeze quick breads, see my post called Make-Ahead Baking.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×5-inch Loaf Pan or this 9×5-inch Loaf Pan| Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Chocolate Banana Muffins: You can try these whole wheat healthier chocolate banana muffins, or turn today’s more decadent batter into muffins. To do so, preheat oven to 425°F (218°C) and spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Prepare batter as directed above, fill each liner to the top with batter and bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C). Then, keeping the muffins in the oven, lower the temperature to 350°F (177°C) and continue to bake for an additional 14–15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes 12–16 muffins.
- Can I Use Whole Wheat Flour? Yes, you can replace the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour with no other changes needed. The loaf will taste denser.
- Cocoa Powder: Use natural cocoa powder, not Dutch-process. See Dutch-process vs natural cocoa powder for more information.
- Chocolate Chips: Don’t leave these out! They sweeten the bread and give the bread more chocolate flavor.
- Sour Cream or Yogurt: I usually use sour cream or nonfat plain Greek yogurt. For the yogurt, you can use full-fat, low-fat, or even vanilla Greek yogurt instead. Or use regular plain yogurt.
- Frozen Bananas: You can use frozen bananas here. Thaw the frozen bananas. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking. Try not to mash too much or else you’ll be left with 2 cups of banana-y liquid; some chunks are great.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Oh man this banana bread is so dang good, but me being me, I can’t leave well enough alone. I wanted to add in a peanut butter element to complement the chocolate and banana, so I used half Reese’s peanut butter chips and half chocolate chips.
I loved this recipe and more in your website. ❤️
Question, I was trying to make 2-3 batches of this for a party. Can I double or triple the recipe? Thank you!
Hi Sarah, we recommend making separate batches for best results.
This is a lovely, lovely recipe. I made a whole recipe and baked it in a half-sized bundt pan, once available from KAF. A loaf pan is a good substitute.
Made this recipe and my fam said it wasn’t sweet enough? I used super ripe bananas and the amount of sugar called for. What is your opinion?
Hi Sally I’d love to try this recipe but am hesitant to include so much sugar for my toddler. Can I sub for maple syrup, honey or coconut sugar at least? Thanks so much.
Hi Jessie, sugar is used for moisture and texture here as well as taste. You can certainly try reducing the sugar, but the resulting texture will be different than intended. We don’t haven’t tested this recipe with sugar substitutes, but we’d love to hear how it goes if you give something a try.
Hi Jessie
I used a coconut and muscavado sugar mix in 3:1 ratio as a sub, works great. Hope it helps.
Morning. How much will one recipe make if I wanted to use mini loaf pans?
Hi Lisa! That depends on the size of your mini loaf pans – they’re all different! Let us know how it goes.
I read the recipe wrong and put in 3/4 cup of cocoa. Once I realize that I put in a little bit more sugar and it was so so delicious.
First time I tried it, it came out perfect! Second time not so great- I may have gotten the measurements wrong.
hello Sally, i just baked this Double Chocolate Banana Bread! impatiently waited for it to cool down to try it, and it turned out really lovely.
I have a question, if i were to put half the amount of sugar, what shall i change in the recipe to balance it out and not have any errors?
Thank you for all what you do <3
F
Hi Farah! Hope you enjoy this double chocolate banana bread. Sugar is used for moisture and texture in baked goods as well as taste. You can certainly try reducing the sugar, but the resulting texture will be different than intended.
Not quite sure what happened. 65 minutes at 350F middle rack was not enough cooking time. Been adding intervals of 5-10 minutes after the initial 60 minutes.. Almost at the 2hr mark now and bottom of loaf is still moist when checking with a toothpick.
Hi Gab! Sorry to hear that the bread isn’t baking properly. Did your batter seem quite wet? Did you use frozen and thawed bananas by chance? Those can add too much moisture to batter.
Meh, dry and kinda overwhelmed by the chocolate flavor. Not really banana bread.
They were delicious! I made some inevitable changes because I was short of bananas and didn’t have chocolate chips. No problem, perfect anyway. I also reduced the amount of sugar a little bit (120 grams instead of 150) because my 260 grams of bananas were really ripe. Everybody loved them, they are very moist.
Amazing recipe! I just made it for the second time. I doubled it (with no issues) and added 2 tsp ground cinnamon (per double batch). Again, AMAZING!!!!
These are dangerously good!! I haven’t tried the loaf yet as I don’t have a pan so I did muffins, twice already, and they are perfect. I am kindergarten baker and do not enjoy cooking but this made me feel like a star
My family loved this bread. I’m going to make it as muffins next time.
This recipe was a big hit! I had to make a few adjustments based on what I had at home. I didn’t have chocolate chips so I broke up a dark chocolate bar into chunks. Then I added some cinnamon chips to match the strong Mexican vanilla I was using. Finally, I added espresso powder to the hot water to boost the overall chocolate flavor. It was perfect! It was quickly eaten up by my coworkers. Definitely making this one again!
I made this as a bunt cake, just dubled everthing except shugar (used 200gr), also I used mix dark muscovado and coconut shugar. Absolutely the best chocolate banana bread. EVER! My kid was amazed, she asked for a slice everyday. Definitely will make it again, and again. Thank you!
I’ve been making banana bread for over 35 years, and THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST I’VE EVER HAD! Oh my goodness! If you like banana and chocolate, look no further! This chocolate banana bread is moist, extremely flavorful, light in texture and easy to make. I’ll never make a plain banana bread again!
My new favorite banana bread recipe
Absolutely the BEST chocolate chip banana bread recipe I have made. It’s the only one I will be making. Super moist and rich. All I did was add a little bit of Kaluha to the batter.
Thanks for a fabulous recipe.
This is incredible! The texture, the taste, everything! My husband was very impressed 🙂 Will make again and again
havent tasted as its a gift as always but just remembered i forgot to add the hot water to bloom so hope that didn’t affect the taste??usually my banana with walnuts, my MIL’s recipe thats everyones favorite, but promised this to a grocery stor mgr, who loves my baking and is very kind when i shop!! thx for sharing this recipe:) used Greek yogurt and looks great!!
This is the BEST banana bread I have made. It’s rich, chocolatey, and so moist. It’s even better the next day. This will be my go to from now on
Have you tried this with gluten-free flour?
Hi Mandy, we haven’t tried this recipe with gluten free flour, but let us know how it turns out if you do!
Mandy – I ONLY use gluten free flour – either Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 or King Arthur’s 1 to 1 – for over 10 yrs. No one even knows! I tell people, I don’t make gluten free recipes, I make recipes gluten free. And! Vanilla flavored yogurt and evap milk (if called for milk) as I do not drink milk, so never have. Use full strength. I always get rave reviews!!
Happy Baking!!
Lifechanging. Thank you for this recipe.
I just made it and it is delicious. Thanks for the yummy recipe. I cant stop eating it!
What happens if you leave out the yogurt?
Hi Rebecca, we don’t recommend it—the bread will be quite dry without it.
I will definitely try this recipe it looks delicious – thanks for sharing
This was so good! More like a rich chocolate cake than a banana bread. I added some bits of crystallized ginger for fun and it gave it a nice little kick.
delicious with a great texture!