Home > Desserts > Chocolate Banana Bread Chocolate Banana Bread March 14, 2020 | 32 Comments SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Jump to Recipe This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy. This tasty Chocolate Banana Bread is moist, deeply chocolate, and rich! We make this bread in two bowls — no stand or hand mixers required. This banana bread also utilizes better-for-you ingredients — less sugar than most banana breads, Greek yogurt, dark chocolate, coconut oil, blended up oats, and bananas of course! Use any remaining overripe bananas in some of our other banana treats like these Banana Crumb Muffins or Banana Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Chocolate Banana Bread We’re obsessed with this chocolate banana bread! It’s incredibly moist, darkly & deeply chocolate, and totally indulgent tasting. The best part is though — it’s not totally a dessert. While there is still a good amount of sugar, there is a fraction of the sugar that other recipes contain. We’re also using tons of other healthier ingredient swaps — dark cocoa powder and dark chocolate chips (healthy fats and antioxidants –yeah!), protein-packed Greek yogurt, oats in place of some of the flour, coconut oil, and — of course– let’s not forget we’re adding fruit to this bread in the form of bananas! Be sure to check out the next section for some important recipe notes before heading to the grocery store. I hope you love this chocolate banana bread as much as my family does! 🙂 Chocolate Banana Bread Ingredient Notes Special Dark® Cocoa Powder contributes the deep and intense chocolate flavor in this chocolate banana bread. I highly recommend using a Dutch-process cocoa powder as opposed to a plain (natural) cocoa powder. Any Dutch cocoa powder will work, but Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder is readily available at most grocery stores (photo above). Honey Vanilla Greek Yogurt adds protein and tons of flavor to this bread. Our favorite yogurt to use is Honey Vanilla Greek yogurt (made by Greek Gods®; photo below). I don’t recommend a low fat or non-Greek yogurt in this bread, it won’t turn out the same. While plain Greek yogurt works, the flavored yogurt adds so much additional flavor to this chocolate banana bread without extra ingredients. Oat flour. What is it? Basically just powdered oats. It adds a great texture, a different flavor, and a healthier aspect to this recipe. See “quick tip” below) Chocolate Chips. Any type of chocolate chip will work — semi-sweet, milk, dark, or chopped up chocolate. I use and call for dark chocolate just because of its health benefits, but any type of chocolate works. Overripe bananas. The riper the banana, the sweeter the bread (and overall the more flavorful it will be). We like to use bananas that are speckled all over. Coconut oil. Make sure to get the measurement with the oil is melted (not in the hardened state). Allow ample time for the coconut oil to cool down so you don’t add hot oil into the chocolate banana bread mixture. QUICK TIP How to make oat flour in 30 seconds or less: All you do is blend up regular old fashioned or quick oats in a blender until the resemble regular flour. I’ve used $20 blenders and my high powered Blendtec and both will do the trick just fine. No need to go buy oat flour; oats blend up in seconds. Unfortunately you can not use ALL oat flour in this bread. I have tried it and it was not successful. Also if you attempt to use a different flour in this chocolate banana bread please note that it may not yield the right texture. Oat flour absorbs much more liquid than regular flour. Chocolate Banana Bread Tips Thoroughly mash the bananas to avoid unpleasant chunks in the chocolate banana bread. If you don’t want to take the time to mash with a fork, use an electric hand mixer to mash them quickly. Don’t over mix: If you over-mix the batter, you’ll end up with a denser loaf. Mix until ingredients are just combined and then pop it in the oven! Generously grease bread pan. I like to grease the bread pan with nonstick spray and then lightly dust with flour. There are few things as frustrating as trying to invert a loaf and having it fall apart or stick to the bottom. Take your time to generously grease the pan or line it with parchment paper. Always cool baked goods on a wire rack. Run a table knife along the edge of the pan and invert the loaf onto the wire rack. Chocolate Banana Bread needs to be elevated so air can circulate around all sides as it cools. Otherwise, moisture (from the heat of the bread) will condense on the bottom of the bread, making it damp and slightly sticky. How To Know When Chocolate Banana Bread Is Done It can be tricky to know when quick breads are baked fully. There is a lot of variances in baking banana bread such as altitude, humidity, actual oven temperature, bread pan used, etc. Here are a few cues to look for and tips to keep in mind: Preventing under-baked banana bread: Make sure your oven is correctly calibrated; wait for the oven to fully preheat before adding the bread to the oven and position the loaf in the center of the oven. Visual cues for doneness: Bread has pulled away from the edges of the pan slightly and the top is caramelized and a deep brown color. Physical cue for doneness: A toothpick (or fork) inserted into the center of the chocolate banana bread comes out clean or with a couple of moist (not wet) crumbs. More banana recipes Chocolate Banana Muffins with chocolate chips Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with a milk chocolate frosting Banana Bread with Greek Yogurt spiced with ground cinnamon Gluten Free Banana Pancakes no flour in the batter Flourless Banana Muffins with mini chocolate chips FOLLOW ALONG! Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates, recipes and content. Chocolate Banana Bread 5 from 8 votes - Review this recipe This tasty chocolate banana bread is moist, deeply chocolate, and rich! We make this bread in two bowls -- no stand or hand mixers required. This banana bread also utilizes better-for-you ingredients -- less sugar than most banana breads, Greek yogurt, dark chocolate, coconut oil, blended up oats, and bananas of course! SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Print Recipe Chocolate Banana Bread 5 from 8 votes - Review this recipe SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Print Recipe This tasty chocolate banana bread is moist, deeply chocolate, and rich! We make this bread in two bowls -- no stand or hand mixers required. This banana bread also utilizes better-for-you ingredients -- less sugar than most banana breads, Greek yogurt, dark chocolate, coconut oil, blended up oats, and bananas of course! Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack Cuisine American, Healthy, Vegetarian Keyword Chocolate Banana Bread Prep Time 30 minutes Cook Time 1 hour Resting Time 15 minutes Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes Servings 12 servings (1 loaf of chocolate banana bread) Calories 151kcal Cost $4.72 IngredientsDry1/3 cup (52g) old fashioned oats, blended (measured to 1/3 cup after being blended)3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt1 teaspoon baking soda1 cup (94g) white whole wheat flour (or plain white all-purpose flour)1/2 cup (38g) special dark cocoa powder Note 11/2 cup (99g) chocolate chips (we use dark chocolate; any type of chocolate works)1/4 cup (39g) miniature chocolate chips (we use dark chocolate; any type of chocolate works)Wet1 large egg1/2 cup (85g) honey vanilla Greek yogurt (must use full fat/Greek yogurt)1/2 cup (95g) melted coconut oil1 teaspoon vanilla extract3/4 cup (174g) white, granulated sugar1 cup (256g) mashed overripe bananas (~2-3 bananas) InstructionsPREP: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease and then lightly dust a 9x5-inch bread pan with flour (or cocoa powder) and set aside. Alternatively line the pan with parchment paper (leaving an overhang for easy removal). Coconut oil prep: Make sure to measure the coconut oil in LIQUID (melted) form. Melt the coconut oil, measure, and then allow to slightly cool so it doesn't "cook" the eggWET INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, whisk 1 large egg with a fork. Add in the vanilla Greek yogurt, cooled coconut oil, vanilla extract, and white sugar.BANANAS: Mash 2-3 overripe bananas until well mashed and the consistency of a thick applesauce. Measure to ensure you have 1 full leveled cup of banana. Add to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined.OATS: Blend up oats. To do this: put old fashioned or quick oats in a blender or food processor and pulse them until they resemble flour. Measure after blending to get a leveled 1/3 cup.DRY INGREDIENTS: In a separate bowl add the oat flour, salt, baking soda, white or white whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, regular and miniature chocolate chips. Stir to combine.COMBINE WET & DRY: Add dry to wet ingredients. Mix together, very gently, until just combined (over-mixing will yield a denser bread). Use a spatula to scrape every bit of the mixture into the prepared pan. If desired, sprinkle 1 tablespoon white sugar on top of the bread for a nice "crust"BAKE: Bake in fully preheated oven for 50-65 minutes or until a fork or toothpick when inserted into the center comes out clean (or with a few moist (not wet) crumbs or the bread starts to pull away from the edges. (I test the bread at 50 minutes) If needed, tent the top with tin foil if the top of the bread is baking faster than the rest.COOL BREAD: Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes and then remove from the bread pan onto a cooling rack. Let fully cool before cutting into the bread (it's a bit crumbly right out of the oven). Cut with a very sharp serrated knife.STORAGE: This bread stores 1-2 days at normal room temperature (wrapped tightly/stored in an airtight container). After 3-4 days, this bread is more prone to molding because of the ingredients used and the overall moistness of the bread. Warm refrigerated (unwrapped) slices in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. Freeze any leftover slices for up to 3 months (individually wrapped and then in another zip-top bag). To thaw, set out wrapped slices at room temperature for about an hour. Recipe NotesNote 1: Any dutch process cocoa works well. If you don't use dutch process cocoa, the bread can turn out fairly dry. Nutrition FactsServing: 1serving | Calories: 151kcal | Carbohydrates: 20.9g | Protein: 3.8g | Fat: 14.1g | Cholesterol: 15.5mg | Sodium: 7.6mg | Fiber: 3.4g | Sugar: 9.2g DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? I love hearing from you when you've made one of my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @ChelseasMessyApron or leave me a comment below.
Thanks Meriem! I really appreciate the compliment! 🙂 I haven’t upgraded any equipment lately! Still using my 50 mm 1.8, 100mm 2.8, and 24-70 mm 2.8 🙂 Reply
Sounds yummy! Can you leave the oats somewhat chunky so there is oat texture to the bread? Also have you used coconut flour in place of the oat flour? I believe it absorbs more liquid like the oat flour does. Thanks! Reply
You definitely can 🙂 I would still pulse them a bit though. And I’m sorry I haven’t ever used coconut flour in this bread, I believe it absorbs more than oat flour though so if you do try it maybe start with 1/4 cup? Hope you enjoy! Reply
Totally drooling over this bread! It looks incredible soft and moist!!!! Loving this recipe Chelsea! 😉 Reply
Yes! I have been eating the same old boring oatmeal for breakfast EVERY SINGLE MORNING. I need something like this in my life. And Chelsea – your photos just keep getting prettier and prettier! Reply
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure without further recipe testing, but I do know quite a few readers have used canola oil in place of coconut oil for my recipes with great success! Wish I could be of more help! Reply
I made this tonight and didn’t have coconut oil on hand and made it with canola oil (same measurement). The bread turned out perfect! My kids loved this and gobbled it up! Reply
Yay!! I’m so glad to hear this! And it’s good to know that the canola oil substitute worked out perfectly! Glad you guys enjoyed! 🙂 Reply
I made this today and I’m so happy that I did! it smells and tastes wonderful and the fact that it’s healthier makes me enjoy it even more.I used whole spelt flour and coconut sugar and it worked great for me.thanks for the recipe Reply
Do you use 1/3 cup oat flour or 1/3 cup old fashioned oats and put that amount in the blender and blend it? I am looking forward to making this! Reply
Interesting that you put white sugar in this recipe with a bunch of healthier ingredients( oats, greek yogurt and coconut oil). I will definitely sub for a healthier sweetener. Reply
I would just recommend using my plain Greek yogurt banana bread. Recipe here: https://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/healthier-greek-yogurt-banana-bread-video/ Enjoy! Reply
Just made this as muffins with the batter divided equally. All 12 muffins look, smell, and taste amazing! Reply
This is delicious and super moist! I put half the batter into an 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan and split the rest into two small decorative Ikea pans. Will definitely make this again! Reply
Tried this recipe last night and the bread came out great. It’s moist and delicious! Perfect chocolate fix without feeling too guilty. Thanks! Reply
