Chocolate Banana Bread

Chocolate Banana Bread delivers rich, moist, and chocolatey goodness. Easy to make in just two bowls, it’s a decadent treat without the hassle.

Chocolate Banana Bread

I’m 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! 🙂 

Ingredients In Chocolate Banana Bread

• Special Dark® Cocoa Powder: I highly recommend using a Dutch-process cocoa powder for a deeper flavor but plain (natural) cocoa powder works as well. 
• Greek Yogurt: Adds protein and tons of flavor to this bread. Our favorite yogurt to use is Honey Vanilla Greek yogurt. I don’t recommend a low fat or non-Greek yogurt in this bread, it won’t turn out the same.
• Oat flour. All you do is blend up regular old fashioned or quick oats in a blender until the resemble regular flour
• Chocolate Chips. Any type of chocolate chip will work — semi-sweet, milk, dark, or chopped up chocolate.
• 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 when the oil is melted. Make sure you give it time to cool down after melting before adding to the banana bread. 

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