Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe

Our Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe is super easy requiring only one bowl to make the batter. Banana bread is one of the most popular ways to use up overripe bananas. It is also one of the tastiest ways, I think.

This makes me think of my mother-in-law and her sister. One of the local grocery stores had “banana day” where you could buy bananas for something like 18 cents a pound so they would buy a ton. They would always have over-ripe bananas so they would make banana bread. For a while there we could go to their house and have fresh banana bread often. It was awesome! They had a great recipe but unfortunately I didn’t get it before they passed away. What a bummer!

Our banana bread recipe has no butter. We have swapped the melted butter with unsweetened applesauce in an effort to make this just a little better for us. While this does change the texture slightly it is still delicious.

We decided to add some mini chocolate chips. I mean why not make our banana bread even better with chocolate. Almost everything is better with chocolate, am I right?!

Ingredients:

See recipe card for exact amounts.

Ingredient Notes:

Flour – we use all purpose flour, you can replace some with whole wheat flour. I would swap out no more than half.

Mashed Banana – brown bananas or bananas with a lot of black spots work best. It took 3 large bananas to get 1 1/2 cups mashed.

Unsweetened Applesauce – this replaces the melted butter or vegetable oil that is typical in banana bread.

Chocolate Chips – we use the mini milk chocolate chips but regular chocolate chips work perfectly too. You could also use dark chocolate chips.

Vanilla – make sure you are using vanilla extract and not imitation vanilla.

Cooking Spray – we find this works great. Why grease and flour a pan when all you need to do is spray it liberally with nonstick cooking spray? We are all about whatever works best with the littlest effort.

How to Make the Best Chocolate Chip Banana Bread:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° and spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. Mash bananas in a medium bowl with a fork and measure out 1 1/2 cups.
3. Mix mashed banana and applesauce in a large bowl until combined. Add sugar, egg, vanilla, baking powder, salt, and flour, and stir until smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips and pour batter into greased loaf pan. Sprinkle the tablespoon of extra chocolate chips on top of the bread before baking.
4. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. Run a knife around the edge of the loaf and remove from pan. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

What Size Pan to Use:

We use a 9 1/4″ X 5 1/4″ X 2 3/4″ which results in a shorter loaf and shorter cook time. If you use a different size loaf pan you will need to adjust the bake time. The smaller the size of the pan the longer it will have to bake.

Pro Tips:

Mix batter with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, an electric mixer is not necessary.

Do no over-mix the batter, mix just until you can no longer see the dry ingredients. 

Substitutions & Additions:

• If you want to make this better for you like we do and you don’t have unsweetened applesauce you could use an equal amount of low-fat sour cream or plain greek yogurt.
• Not concerned about calories and fat then swap the applesauce for an equal amount of coconut oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil.
• Swap the chocolate chips for nuts, or just add about a half a cup of nuts too!
• Replace up to half the flour with whole wheat flour.
• Swap up to half of the white sugar for light brown sugar.
• Add some cinnamon, about a teaspoon.
• Add about 1/3 cup of cocoa powder for chocolate banana bread.

Storage:

We store our banana bread wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and then we wrap that with aluminum foil. Keep at room temperature for 3 days and refrigerated for 5 days. Freeze for 2-3 months. It is important to eat it before freezer burn develops. Be sure to let the whole loaf cool completely before freezing.

What We Like About Making Our Moist Banana Bread:

It is made in one bowl. No combining wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately and then mixing together. That means only one bowl to clean. Lee especially likes this.

We have made it a little better for us by not using butter or oil.

We have added chocolate chips to make it even tastier.

Eating it! A slice of banana bread and a hot cup of coffee make the perfect breakfast, brunch, afternoon snack or dessert.

More Banana Recipes:

Chocolate Banana Nut Baked Oatmeal – we love this because you mix the ingredients, pour it in a casserole dish and bake it in the oven.

Banana Breakfast Cake – cake for breakfast, need I say more?

Strawberry Banana Cheesecake Salad – fresh bananas and strawberries are mixed with cream cheese and Cool Whip, then we add mini marshmallows, so delicious!

Oat Banana Nut Pancakes – a great way to take pancakes to the next level.

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Recipe adapted from Tasty.