Chocolate chip banana bread is the perfect way to use up 3 ripe bananas. Full of chocolate chips and super moist, this recipe is a family favorite! It's great for breakfast with coffee or packed in a school lunch box for the kids.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe
We are gathered here today because of your love for my eggless banana bread, my double chocolate banana muffins, and my chocolate CHIP banana muffins. We all have ripe bananas, and we all enjoy new ways to put them to use!
Every family needs a great go-to chocolate chip banana bread recipe, and this one is ours. It's special because it contains honey, which keeps the bread super moist and sweet. This recipe is my Mom's banana read recipe, and the floral notes from the honey is what makes it extra special.
You might recognize the honey addition from my chocolate chip zucchini bread recipe. It really makes breads so special!
I'm happy to include metric weights in this recipe, because I want it to come out perfect for you. Seriously, just try this recipe once, and it will become your family's new classic banana bread!
While I typically make small batch desserts for two, this is a full size loaf of banana bread in a standard bread loaf pan. The perfect pan to make this chocolate banana bread is this 9" loaf pan.
As a side note, I make small batch brownies for two in a loaf pan, if you're here for small loaf pan desserts for two.
Ingredients for chocolate chip banana bread:
- unsalted butter (butter is better for banana bread than oil; I will die for this statement)
- granulated sugar
- honey
- eggs
- mashed bananas (the browner, the better)
- all-purpose flour
- wheat germ (totally optional, just extra fiber)
- baking soda
- chopped pecans (or your favorite nut instead)
- chocolate chips (the more, the better)
How to make chocolate chip banana bread:
I stand by my comment that softened butter makes the best banana bread. While many recipes call for oil to make the bread super soft, butter has a better flavor. Plus, the bread will be equally soft when made with butter when it's at room temperature.
The only slightly annoying thing is that because we're using butter, we need to use a hand mixer to incorporate the butter and sugar and honey together. Using a hand mixer incorporates air into the butter and makes for a very fluffy banana bread. The coarse crystals of granulated sugar puncture the butter and help create the airiness, also. Baking is a science, did you know?
If you don't have a hand mixer, you can absolutely do this by hand with some strong wrist action. But, if you're looking for a hand mixer, I happen to love that this one comes with its own carrying case for the beaters. I've had it for over 10 years, and it gets plenty of use but still works great!
How to keep banana bread moist:
After beating the butter and sugar together, add the honey, eggs, mashed bananas, and blend. Sprinkle the flour, optional wheat germ, baking soda and chopped nuts (we love pecans) and chocolate chips on top, and stir everything in.
As the chocolate chip banana bread bakes for a little over an hour, it will puff up into a large dome with a beautiful crack down the center. Before removing it from the oven, be sure to insert a toothpick about half way into the loaf and check for wet batter.
This banana bread keeps tightly wrapped on the counter for 2 days, or in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Cold banana bread will need to be warmed up a bit to soften it because of the butter.
One final note: please don't feed this banana bread to babies, as it contains honey. Check out all of my baby food recipes here.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
One loaf of chocolate chip banana bread with 10 slices.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup (2.5 ounces) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (3.5 ounces) runny honey
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (~3 bananas)
- 1 ¾ cup (8.3 ounces) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup wheat germ (optional)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped pecans (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9" x 5" x 3" loaf pan with parchment paper in one direction. If you're not using a nonstick pan, go ahead and spray the remaining 2 sides with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Then, add the mashed bananas and honey, and beat until combined.
- Next, add the eggs, one at a time, and continue beating.
- Finally, sprinkle the flour, wheat germ (if using), and baking soda on top. Beat until just combined. Add the pecans and chocolate chips last, and beat just for a few seconds.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan, and bake for 65-70 minutes. At the 65 minute mark, test the bread by inserting a toothpick in the center of the loaf and checking for wet batter. Let the bread cool in the pan, slice and serve.
Notes
One tip with measuring honey is to spray the measuring cup with nonstick spray before pouring it in. Then, it slides out easily!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 208Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 147mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 2gSugar: 8gProtein: 5g
Ash says
This looks delicious and I will be trying it this weekend! The ounce measurements are weight and not fluid ounces, correct?
I ask because you mentioned you will be including metric weights, but everything is in ounces. Metric weight is measured in grams.
Ann Tennis says
Hi Christina,
I am losing weight by counting calories.
Do you know how many calories in a slice of your choc chip banana bread..... which by the way
is awesome.
had some this morning with "butter" and it was so yummy
Christina Lane says
208 calories per slice :)
Lauren says
This looks amazing! Going to make it today. And this may seem obvious to some, but when do we add the mashed bananas?
Christina Lane says
I just fixed this, what a thing for me to do--forget to say add the bananas in a BANANA bread recipe, hah! Sorry!
Lauren says
It was delicious! Thank you for the recipe!!
Tonya says
I just found your page via Buttered Side Up. This Banana Bread looks absolutely amazing!! I just added bananas to my grocery list as all I have on hand are frozen bananas for smoothies right now. I'm not sure if they would work well in this recipe or not but I might give them a try just to see. I'll let you know how it turns out in case other readers are stuck in the same predicament as me & feel the urge to make this at 4:00 a.m. Looking forward to reading more of your blog & I'm sure to become an avid follower!
Farzana says
I love you for this recipe. I follow a lot of your recipes. I'm absolutely in love with this bread. My family relishes this everytime I make it. It's yumm. I love your recipes. They are not complicated, simple and very crisply written and shown in the video. A big hug to you.
Gail says
Could you make mini muffins with this recipe?
If so, how long would the bake time be?
Thank you!