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This Chocolate Chip Banana Bread bakes at 350°F for about 55–65 minutes, makes 1 (9×5-inch) loaf, and comes together in just one bowl. It’s extra tender from a touch of yogurt or sour cream and loaded with three kinds of chocolate so every slice has melty pockets throughout.
I’ve tested this loaf more times than I can count to balance moisture, banana flavor, and chocolate in every bite – my combination of three chocolates is the secret to a crave-worthy crumb.
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love This Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
- Ingredients for My Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- How to Make Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Banana Ripening Tips
- How to Keep Banana Bread Moist
- Kellie’s Banana Bread Tips and Variations
- Storage & Freezing
- More Easy Banana Bread Recipes
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe
This banana bread is amazing! We’re obsessed! Thanks for sharing!
– Chelsea
Why You’ll Love This Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
- One-bowl & weeknight-easy: minimal dishes, maximum payoff.
- Ultra-moist crumb: a bit of yogurt or sour cream keeps it tender.
- Chocolate in every slice: a mix of milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, and dark chocolate chips.
- Freezer-friendly: slice now, snack later.
Another day, another banana bread recipe but this is not your ordinary banana bread. No, this is one of my family’s favorites and it’s studded with three different kinds of chocolate chips.
This Easy Chocolate Chip Banana Bread is derived from my original banana bread recipe. But basic is good, because it’s classic, predictable, and reliable. Tried and True.
I love recipes that are totally reliable but customizable so you can toss in your favorite add-ins or flavorings without really changing the composition of the recipe causing it to fail. This Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe is just that, a basic banana bread with a little twist, the twist being milk chocolate, dark chocolate AND semi-sweet chocolate chips folded into the batter.
Ingredients for My Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Bananas – Bananas that look like they’re ready for the trash are the best here. The riper your bananas the sweeter the bread.
- Sugar – We use regular granulated sugar here but you can substitute with brown sugar, coconut sugar or raw sugar.
- Dairy – Milk and yogurt create a rich tanginess that’s wonderful with the sweet bananas. Sour cream can be used as a substitute for the yogurt, if preferred.
- Flour – I always use all purpose flour but you can use whole wheat as a substitution.
- Chocolate Chips – I like to use a mix of semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips but you can experiment with your favorite chocolate chips. Sometimes we even throw in some butterscotch chips for fun.
For the full ingredient list and instructions, check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Ingredient Substitutions
- Mini chips: swap 1:1 for standard chips.
- Nuts: fold in ½–1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans.
- Gluten-free: use a 1:1 baking Gluten-free blend; bake time may vary a few minutes.
- Sugar tweaks: you can sub coconut sugar; texture will be slightly denser and less glossy.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
This easy Banana Bread recipe is fairly simple to whip up. And most of the work is done in one bowl.
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Make the Batter – Combine the sugar and butter in a mixer beating until fluffy. Add the banana, milk, yogurt and eggs mixing until combined. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. The batter should be thick and scoopable, not pourable. If it ribbons off the spatula and slowly mounds in the bowl, it’s perfect.
- Add the Chocolate – Fold in chocolate just until combined – overmixing can create tunnels and make chips sink.
- Pour the batter into a loaf pan. – Smooth the top, then sprinkle extra chips over the batter for a bakery-style finish.
- Bake – Bake until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs (no wet batter). The center crack should look set and the loaf will spring back lightly when pressed with your finger.
- Cool – Cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove from the pan and cool to room temperature on a wire rack.
How to Keep Chocolate Chips from Sinking
Toss chips with 1 teaspoon flour before folding in; don’t overmix, and make sure your batter is thick (see cues above). Always finish with a handful on top – they anchor at the surface and look great.
Banana Ripening Tips
- Microwave (fastest): Use a fork to poke the banana peel and heat in short bursts until softened; cool before using.
- Paper-bag method (overnight): Place bananas in a paper bag with an apple; close and leave at room temperature.
- Quick oven method: Bake whole, unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet at 300°F for 15-20 minutes until blackened; cool, peel, and mash.
How to Keep Banana Bread Moist
First, start with very ripe bananas. I like to use bananas that are almost completely brown and bordering on black for the ultimate moist banana bread.
Underripe bananas can suck the moisture out of the other ingredients leaving you with dry, crumbly banana bread. The Greek Yogurt also adds some moisture to your banana bread with a bit of tanginess, too.
We always have a stash of frozen bananas that were on the edge and I didn’t have time to bake bread. Our easy method of how to freeze bananas ensures you’ll always have frozen bananas for smoothies, breads and muffins.
If you don’t want to use greek yogurt or are not a fan, you can make this Banana Bread with sour cream instead. It works just as perfectly!
Kellie’s Banana Bread Tips and Variations
Troubleshooting Tips
- Batter too thin? Add 1–2 tablespoons flour; chips sink in thin batter.
- Sinking center? Bake longer; target few moist crumbs on tester.
- Dry loaf? Check oven temp with a thermometer; overbaking dries quickly.
- Greasy edges? Use a metal 9×5-inch pan and line with a parchment sling.
Variations
- Walnut Crunch: fold in ¾ cup toasted walnuts; sprinkle 2 tablespoons on top.
- Kid-Favorite Mini Chip: swap in mini chips; they distribute more evenly.
- Naked Banana: skip chips and add ½ teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg.
- Bakery Top: sprinkle turbinado sugar before baking for a crunchy lid.
- Extra-Dark: use all dark chocolate chips plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder sifted with the flour.
Storage & Freezing
- Reheat: toaster or oven at 300–350°F for 8–10 minutes (from frozen, add a couple of minutes).
- Room temp: store airtight 3–4 days. Slice as you go to keep the loaf moist.
- Freeze slices: wrap individual slices, then place in a freezer bag; freeze up to 3 months.
- Thaw: room temp 30–60 minutes or overnight in the fridge.
More Easy Banana Bread Recipes
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Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe
Equipment
- 1 loaf pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 2/3 cups mashed ripe banana, about 3 bananas
- 1/4 cup 2% milk
- 1/4 cup plain fat free Greek yogurt, I used Chobani
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all purpose flour, I used King Arthur
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chunks
- 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar and butter beating at medium speed until fluffy. On low-speed, add the banana, milk, greek yogurt and eggs mixing until combined.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Keeping the mixer on low-speed and slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat just until blended. Thebatter should be thick and scoopable.
- Fold in chocolate; do not overmix. Spread into pan and sprinkle extra chips on top.
- Pour the batter into a 9×5 inch metal loaf pan coated with cooking spray and sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top.
- Bake 55–65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs and the center crack looks set. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack before slicing.
Notes
- Storage: airtight at room temp 3–4 days.
- Freeze: wrap slices individually; freeze up to 3 months. Reheat at 300–350°F for 8–10 minutes or in a toaster.
- Substitutions: yogurt ↔ sour cream; mini chips ↔ standard; add ½–1 cup nuts.
- Prevent sinking chips: toss chips with 1 tsp flour and avoid overmixing.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Use about 380 g mashed bananas (1 ⅔ cups). Weighing gives the most consistent crumb.
Yes, expect a longer bake time and a slightly softer, denser crumb. Stick with 350°F for the listed bake time.
Common causes: undermixing leavening, overmixing batter, the wrong size pan, or underbaking. Bake until just a few moist crumbs remain on the tester.
Yes, use a 1:1 baking Gluten-Free blend and check doneness a few minutes early/late.
Yes, reduce by up to 25% or substitute coconut sugar 1:1; the loaf will be less sweet and slightly denser.
Total mix-ins should be only up to 1–1¼ cups to work well. Keep at least ½ cup for sprinkling on top.
Our boys are obsessed with banana bread, they’d go crazy for this one!
It’s a favorite of our’s here!
This banana bread is amazing! We’re obsessed! Thanks for sharing!
We make banana bread all the time! Looks amazing!
Just when you thought banana bread couldn’t get any better… BAM, add chocolate! So good!
This is the BEST chocolate chip banana bread! My family loves it!!! 🙂 Thank you for a great recipe!
This is my kids’ favorite banana bread recipe! Thank you so much!