Imagine a piece of indulgently rich chocolate cake paired with a flavorful slice of banana bread. Here we’re getting two fabulous baked goods together in one. This double chocolate banana bread is extra moist, undeniably fudge-like, and can satisfy even the biggest chocolate craving. It’s easy to make, too!
One reader, Katie, commented: “Amazing! I don’t think I can have banana bread any other way now. You still have the classic banana bread flavor but with the added chocolate. It’s moist and airy. So good! PS: slightly warm with some vanilla ice cream… OMG! ★★★★★“
I’ve made chocolate banana bread a few times over the past several years and have never been “wowed.” I really wanted to develop a recipe that delivered a decadent chocolate flavor with a moist, dense texture. After several tries, I landed on today’s chocolate chip-studded beauty, a loaf that lives up to my very popular and deeply loved classic banana bread recipe.
Here’s Why You’ll Love This Chocolate Banana Bread
- Uses simple, basic baking ingredients
- Batter comes together easily
- Stays moist for days, and also freezes well
- Dense, but not-too-heavy crumb
- Substantial chocolate flavor that doesn’t overpower the banana
- An anytime treat—enjoy with coffee, in the afternoon, or for dessert
Key Ingredients to Use & Why
Let me share a brief rundown of the ingredients you need and the purpose of each. Remember, baking is a science, and the select ingredients play a crucial role in the texture, moisture, flavor, and structure of your baked goods. I use many of the following ingredients in my double chocolate zucchini bread, too.
- Flour: Doesn’t seem like a lot of flour, and you’re right, it’s not. Keep in mind there’s also cocoa powder. Most of the volume in this batter comes from the banana.
- Cocoa Powder: Use unsweetened natural cocoa powder, not Dutch-process. Natural cocoa is an acidic ingredient and important in this recipe. Read about the difference between Dutch-process vs. natural cocoa powder.
- Softened Butter: Creaming softened butter with sugar provides a sturdy base for this double chocolate banana bread. Make sure your butter is room temperature, and not melted in the slightest. Remember, room-temperature butter means cool to the touch.
- Sour Cream or Yogurt: Adds moisture.
- Ripe Bananas: This recipe requires 4 medium or 3 large ripe bananas—the riper, the better. You can use thawed frozen bananas, too. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking. If you run out of bananas, you can substitute in some applesauce; I’d say up to 1/2 cup is a safe amount that won’t really affect the flavor or texture.
- Hot Water: Kind of random, right? Well, hot liquid helps cocoa powder bloom, or begin to release its flavor. Today’s batter was really thick, too, and I wanted a touch of liquid to thin it out.
You also need some basics like baking soda, salt, chocolate chips, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
Behind the Recipe Testing
I originally began making the bread with vegetable oil because cocoa powder can be very drying and oil brings more moisture than butter. I use oil in my chocolate cake and cream-filled chocolate cupcakes (two favorites!), so it seemed like the best choice. Every loaf was simply too light—it’s hard to describe, but the flavor did not match the texture. With the big, bold flavors of chocolate and banana, a light-crumbed baked good just doesn’t cut it! Once I switched to butter, it was easy to make a few tweaks to produce the delicious loaf you see today. I’d say creamed butter, sour cream, and hot water are game changers with this one.
Expect a thick batter and use a 9×5-inch loaf pan; an 8×4-inch pan is too small.
The chocolate banana bread takes about 60 to 65 minutes to bake. Begin checking for doneness at 60 minutes using a toothpick; if it comes out mostly clean with only a few moist crumbs, the bread is done.
You don’t have to wait too long for this quick bread to cool; at least 1 to 2 hours is enough. Just wait until you slice into the warm loaf with all those melty chocolate chips inside.
And my last piece of advice: try a slice with a generous swipe of peanut butter! Then go try this peanut butter chocolate chip zucchini bread next. 🙂
Yes, you can use frozen bananas in this recipe. Thaw the frozen bananas. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed below. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking.
Yes, absolutely. I have detailed instructions in the recipe Notes below.
There isn’t enough batter, and I haven’t tested scaling the recipe up. Instead, I recommend using my extremely similar, scaled-up recipe for chocolate marble banana Bundt cake.
Other Favorite Banana Recipes:
- Banana Cake & Banana Cupcakes
- Banana Cream Pie
- Banana Muffins & Blueberry Banana Muffins
- Banana Chocolate Chip Streusel Muffins
- Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
Double Chocolate Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes (includes slight cooling)
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This double chocolate banana bread is moist and fudge-like, and comes together quickly with a couple bowls and a loaf pan. See recipe Notes for freezing instructions and how to turn the loaf into chocolate banana muffins.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups (156g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 cup (41g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (135g) semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus 2 Tablespoons (22g) for topping
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60g) plain yogurt or sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas (about 4 medium or 3 large ripe bananas)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) hot water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together until combined. Mix in 3/4 cup (135g) chocolate chips. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then beat in the yogurt, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract until combined. Add the dry ingredients and hot water, and beat on low speed until combined. Batter is thick. Do not over-mix.
- Pour and spread the batter into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top, down the center of the loaf.
- Bake for 60–65 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent the top from drying out. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs. This may be after 60–65 minutes depending on your oven, so begin checking around the 60-minute mark, at 5-minute intervals.
- Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan set on a wire rack for at least 1 to 2 hours before removing, slicing, and serving.
- Cover and store bread at room temperature for 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Banana bread tastes best on day 2 after the flavors have settled together.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze baked & cooled loaf, tightly wrapped, for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. If desired, bring to room temperature before serving. To learn more details about how to freeze quick breads, see my post called Make-Ahead Baking.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×5-inch Loaf Pan or this 9×5-inch Loaf Pan| Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Chocolate Banana Muffins: You can try these whole wheat healthier chocolate banana muffins, or turn today’s more decadent batter into muffins. To do so, preheat oven to 425°F (218°C) and spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Prepare batter as directed above, fill each liner to the top with batter and bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C). Then, keeping the muffins in the oven, lower the temperature to 350°F (177°C) and continue to bake for an additional 14–15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes 12–16 muffins.
- Can I Use Whole Wheat Flour? Yes, you can replace the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour with no other changes needed. The loaf will taste denser.
- Cocoa Powder: Use natural cocoa powder, not Dutch-process. See Dutch-process vs natural cocoa powder for more information.
- Chocolate Chips: Don’t leave these out! They sweeten the bread and give the bread more chocolate flavor.
- Sour Cream or Yogurt: I usually use sour cream or nonfat plain Greek yogurt. For the yogurt, you can use full-fat, low-fat, or even vanilla Greek yogurt instead. Or use regular plain yogurt.
- Frozen Bananas: You can use frozen bananas here. Thaw the frozen bananas. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking. Try not to mash too much or else you’ll be left with 2 cups of banana-y liquid; some chunks are great.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I made this today and it is delicious! Thank you Sally!
Amazing!
Looking to make double chocolate loaf without adding bananas, will it effect the final product and can I use vegetable oil instead butter?
Hi Anisha, bananas are a big part of this banana bread recipe, so we wouldn’t recommend leaving them out. If you’re not a fan of bananas, you might like our double chocolate zucchini bread instead. Butter creamed with sugar is the base of this recipe, and gives it that lush, rich flavor. Oil won’t substitute perfectly. This double chocolate muffins recipe uses oil instead of butter and can be made baked as a quick bread instead. We recommend a 9×5 loaf pan. Same temperature, but we’re unsure of the exact bake time. Keep a close eye on it and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Let us know if you give anything a try!
Just made this, So good! I loved it so much and I really like how the chocolate and banana taste blend together perfectly.
Deliciously moist and chocolaty. Not too sweet and full of banana so I can call it healthy! I used dark chocolate chips because I’m dark chocolate fan.
I started my day intending to try Sally’s Favorite Banana Bread recipe – my history with other banana bread recipes has been sad and fraught with raw middles so I was excited to try Sally’s. But when I measured out the goo from the 3 bananas I had in my freezer, I only had
1 1/2 cups. Luckily I had some cocoa powder so I switched gears and decided to try this recipe instead. Wow!! This is some delicious bread!!! I only used 1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips and added a 1/4 cup of pecans.
This loaf baked up so beautifully, evenly cooked in 60 minutes, no raw middle! The banana and chocolate flavors are both there and delicious but neither are overpowering. I will definitely be keeping this recipe. Next up – buying more bananas so I can try Sally’s Favorite Banana Bread!
Sally – thank you for generously sharing your recipes for free! We love you!
I forgot to rate this amazing chocolate banana bread recipe as 5 stars! Couldn’t find where to ask a question regarding lemon Berry yogurt cake. Can I use lemon greek yogurt punch up the lemon flavor?
Hi Diana, it will enhance the lemon flavor, yes, but if you enjoy lemon that shouldn’t be a problem. Let us know how it goes!
I just made this and it came out so good! 60 minutes seemed to be the right cook time. It is very chocolatey, with just a hint of bananas, exactly as I hoped. I do prefer dark chocolate so I used 1/4 cup of bittersweet chocolate and 1/2 cup semisweet, and that was perfect!
This is THE chocolate banana bread recipe. There was just enough sweetness to balance the bitterness of the chocolate, it was perfectly moist inside, and I also actully could taste bananas. Defenitely gonna be making it over and over again. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Great result and will make again. I did what I normally do for banana loaf which is to add little pieces of banana. Works well with a very thick batter because the pieces don’t sink.
The chocolate banana bread was fantastic. I shared with my coworkers and it didn’t last long. So moist! I’ll be making this again.
I made this recipe for the first time tonight. It was delicious!
I used Greek honey yogurt and made mini loaves instead of one 9×5 loaf.
How long does the bread last at room temp?
Hi Sophie, the bread lasts at room temperature for 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Hello mam. Mam is the temperature and time mentioned here is for normal household OTG or convection oven right? can we try the same temperature and baking time for heavy duty UNOX ovens?
Hi Nathan, We always recommend conventional settings for baking (not convection/fan). The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven. If you do use convection/fan settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
I really want to make this for my son but he has an egg allergy. I was wondering if you had any idea how this would do with the egg omitted or an egg substitute. Thanks!
Hi Casey, we haven’t tested any egg substitutes but let us know if you do!
OMGosh soooo delicious. Just made
I have made this chocalate banana bread 3 different ti.es within 1 month. It is excellent. 2x i made the bread and the 3rd time i made it in 3 small loaf loafs for gifts. I will make into muffins next. A Go to recipe, for a company or gifts.
Have you tried making this in small loaf pans for gifts. Would it work well? I was going to attemp to make them, but was worried it would not bake as well. Or does cupcake/muffins work well with this reciepe? Thanks
Hi BB, you absolutely could! Bake time will vary depending on the exact size of your mini loaf pans, so keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness. You can bake the loaves at 350 degrees for the entire time. Or, see the recipe notes for more on using this batter for muffins. Hope whichever option you choose is a hit!
FYI I took your advice about the small loafs. I baked 3 together at 350 and checked at 35 min., it needed more time and 43 min. Was perfect in my oven.
I love the receipt, but I have a question about where to place it in the oven when baking and If I should turn top and bottom heat together.. or if should use fan as well? Thanks
Hi Raed, we usually recommend baking in the lower third of your oven. We always recommend conventional settings for baking (not convection/fan). The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven.
3 in 1 chocolate banana bread?!?
Amazing banana bread recipe!!! The most magical thing is that it is almost a 3 in 1 and the flavour changes as time goes on. I followed the recipe exact and it resulted in the most moist, fragrant chocolate banana bread that is balanced and not overly sweet.
Day 1 (still warm) : very intense banana flavour, lovely crispy crust on the top
Day 2 : Banana flavour still strong and slightly fermented/alcoholic taste, chocolate flavour deepened
Day 3 : Almost no banana flavour but the MOISTEST CHOCOLATE LOAF I’VE EVER MADE!!
I will no doubt make this again and again, and probably wait 3 days if I want a choc loaf cake, if it will last that long!
We are so happy that you love this bread, Chloe!
Loved this loaf! Have you tried it using oil instead of butter – either partially or fully replacing the butter with a healthy oil?
Hi Sylvia, Butter creamed with sugar is the base of this recipe, and gives it that lush, rich flavor. Oil won’t substitute perfectly. You may enjoy these chocolate banana muffins that use oil instead.
Delicious! Will definitely make it again.
Sally, this dbl choc. banana bread was so delicious! I also did a gluten free version for my daughter and it was perfectly moist and tender. Thank you for another delicious recipe. Happy New Year!
Hi Debbie! What gluten free flour did you use? Were there any steps you did differently?
Great recipe took over 75 minutes to bake.
My new go to for using old bananas. I make them gf & df muffins and they’re great. Today I added PB chips instead of chocolate( been baking up a storm and ran out). They’re in the oven now, can’t wait to try them.
I just made the cake and the middle sank. What would have caused this?
Hi Mitzy, quick breads usually sink if they have been under-baked. Did you use a toothpick to test for doneness? And make sure to use a 9×5 pan, not a slightly smaller pan which will take longer to bake through and may not bake evenly.
Definitely a keeper. I couldn’t wait and tried it when it was cool enough, but the flavor was even more amazing when it was a couple of days old. YUM!
It is amazing !! Both of my boys gave it 2 thumbs up
Delicious muffins! I was hoping to use up some bananas and have something extra chocolately. This hit the spot! The instructions for muffins was perfect and resulted in tasty, sky high muffins. My family couldn’t wait more than a few minutes out of the oven before digging in.
I want to make this recipe for new year but some of my family members don’t eat eggs. Can I substitute eggs with something else?
We haven’t tested egg substitutes here, but let us know if you do!