This easy Chocolate Banana Bread recipe is so rich, delicious and makes the perfect banana bread for chocolate lovers! It’s moist, decadent, and the best chocolate banana bread!
If you love banana bread, then I urge you to give this Chocolate Banana Bread recipe a try soon! So rich and delicious, the flavor combination of banana and chocolate is perfect together! I’ve included an ingredient that enhances the chocolate even more! As much as my family loves our traditional banana bread recipe, this chocolate version is one that is often requested by the chocolate lovers in the family.
How to Make the Chocolate Banana Bread
Once I started baking banana bread more and more often, I finally understood why my grandmother had a special bunch of bananas always on hold. She had plenty for snacking, but the special ones beside her bread box were reserved for banana bread or amazing Southern Banana Pudding. I’ll admit that I started doing the same. One bunch goes into the fruit bowl, and another goes to the side for recipes.
Banana bread makes a great thing to bake for a simple breakfast, dessert, or snack, to take to work to share with coworkers or to deliver to a friend that needs a little extra care. And I think it is one of the best ways to introduce yourself to a new neighbor.
Here’s how I make it:
Ingredients
Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full listing of ingredients, instructions, notes, and estimated nutritional information.
- Bananas – ripe bananas with dark spots that are ripe enough to mash
- Dark brown sugar – gives the recipe a deep, rich molasses flavor
- Butter (salted) – softened to room temperature
- Eggs – room temperature to combine best into the batter
- All-purpose flour – give your flour a quick whisk to remove any lumps if required
- Cocoa powder – use unsweetened cocoa powder, not Dutch process. They are not interchangeable.
- Espresso powder – this little extra ingredient brings even more richness to the chocolate
- Baking soda – works for leavening the bread to help it rise
- Salt – I use kosher salt
- Vanilla extract – I use my homemade vanilla extract, but you can also use quality store-bought vanilla.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Mix the ingredients. You can mix by hand or use an electric mixer based on your preference.
Mix together the softened butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Remove the bananas from their peelings, mash them with a fork, and mix until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each egg to make sure well blended into the batter.
In another mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and espresso powder until blended.
Then add the flour/cocoa mixture to the banana mixture and combine them until smooth. Add the baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract and stir until well combined. Pour into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then, turn the baked chocolate banana bread out onto a wire rack to cool until it is still slightly warm before serving. Allow it to cool completely before covering it.
Storage Tips
To store. Allow the baked bread to cool completely. Store it under a cake dome, wrapped well, or in an airtight container on the countertop for 3-4 days.
To freeze. Wrap well with wrap, place in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw, reheat, and serve. Thaw completely overnight. Reheat in the oven or microwave and slice to serve.
About Room Temperature
Room-temperature eggs are desired for mixing with the butter for baking. Cold eggs can chill the fat too much and not result in a well-blended batter.
Softened butter to room temperature – not warm or melted butter – incorporates better when creaming with the sugar. It gives the bread a moist, tender texture.
No, not really. Don’t substitute Dutch-processed in this recipe, for instance. To keep it simple and not get into a chemistry lesson, they have different chemical properties and pair with different leaveners in a recipe. Natural cocoa powder is lighter in color, still has its acid content intact, and is usually paired with baking soda (as in this recipe); while Dutch-processed is darker, the beans have been treated to reduce the acidity, and it is typically paired with baking powder. Just a reminder that baking is a chemical reaction!
Other Favorite Bread and Muffin Recipes
Here’s my Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe. I hope you love it as much as we do!
Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 (472 g) overripe bananas, mashed
- 1 cup (213 g) dark brown sugar
- 8 tablespoons (113 g) salted butter, room temperature
- 2 large (100 g) eggs
- 1 1/2 cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (42 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.6 g) espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon (6 g) baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon (1 g) kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Spray a 9-inch loaf pan with baking spray or coat with butter and dust with all-purpose flour, being sure to shake out any excess flour. Set aside.
- Mix bananas and sugar with electric mixer until well blended. Add butter and beat until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each egg.
- Whisk flour, cocoa powder, and espresso powder in a medium mixing bowl until blended. Add flour/cocoa mixture to batter and mix until smooth. Add baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract and stir until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake until a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle, about 1 hour.
Notes
Storage and Freezing Instructions
To store. Allow the baked bread to cool completely. Store it under a cake dome, wrapped well, or in an airtight container on the countertop for 3-4 days. To freeze. Wrap well with wrap, place in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw, reheat, and serve. Thaw completely overnight. Reheat in the oven or microwave and slice to serve.Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
From the Add a Pinch recipe archives. Originally published 2015.
Can this be made with stevia?
I’m sorry, Angie, but I have not made this banana bread with Stevia. Maybe someone else on here has and can answer your question.
I made this this morning with 4 mini loaves. About 15 minutes in I had smoke pouring out of the oven. From what I can tell, the butter melted out of the batter and over the edge of the pans. I tried to mix it in as well as possible and it looked fairly similar to your video. Any suggestions?
Andrea,
I’ve never had this happen so I’m not sure. Could your pans have been filled too full? Sorry I couldn’t answer your question.
This was so good! I added mini chocolate chips and a 1/4 t. baking powder and used 4 mini bread pans and cooked it for 30 minutes. Delicious!
Hi I’m in the UK and not too sure what kosher salt is and I don’t think my supermarket sells it, is there another salt I can use instead?
Thanks! X
Hi Melanie,
It’s the salt I commonly use for cooking. You can use your regular salt you use in baking if you can’t find kosher in your area. Thanks! xo
Can this be made gluten free ?
My kids and I made this recipe with a few changes and shortcuts and it was delicious.
We cut the sugar in half and left out the coffee then placed all the ingredients into our thermomix and whipped it up together. We then baked as cupcakes for 15 mins and they have been an absolute hit.
Thanks for a great recipe. We can’t wait to try a few more.
Your newest Aussie fans ????Â
Glad you liked them! Glad to have some new Aussie fans! 😉 Thanks Kama! xo
This bread was delicious — moist from banana, yet light and cocoa-y without overpowering. Both my mom and I, who love chocolate-based desserts and banana bread loved it! It had a unique texture and balanced taste.
I made some adjustments, instead of:
– butter: olive oil 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (for those who don’t digest butter well!)
– baking soda: 2 tsp baking powder (due to lack of baking soda at home)
– flour: little less than 1 cup whole wheat flour and bit more than 1/2 cup white flour, to add whole wheat
without ruining the rise/texture
– brown sugar: 3/4 cup (our final bread wasn’t that sweet, and definitely way less sweeter than usual store bought cakes)
For this batch, baking took around 45 minutes at 177 C (~350F). Not sure if it’s due to my adjustments (ex. olive oil) or the oven. I look forward to baking it again!
Thank you for the recipe!
I’m so glad you and your Mom both loved it!!! xo
This Chocolate Banana Bread is absolutely delicious! I made two loaves and both were eaten by my family and the kids friends all in a day!! Thanks for another great recipe; that is now my go to banana bread.
So glad to hear that, Darlene! Thanks! xo
Oh dear ! Totally agree to every single word you write ! Thank you so much for sharing ! Will do this weekend !
Hi Robyn, This looks wonderful and since my hubby is a chocolate lover but isn’t fond of banana bread, I will have to try it. I just watched your video when you were on QVC and have to tell you that you are adorable young lady! And so happy for you that your book sold out! And I am still in awe that I won your most generous giveaway. Thank you so much dearheart! Lots of love and hugs. Claudia