Chocolate Chip Banana Bread is incredibly soft and tender, loaded with gooey chocolate chips that stay perfectly distributed throughout. It's easy to make and bursting with rich banana flavor—simply perfect banana bread!
Looking for more recipes to make with ripe bananas? Try my favorite walnut smoothie, mini banana muffins or carot cookies recipe.
Why You'll Love This Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips
I took my popular eggless banana bread recipe and made one simple change: I swapped ½ cup of yogurt for 2 eggs and stirred in some chocolate chips. That little tweak turned an already delicious banana bread into something extra special!
I loved it so much that I baked this loaf three days in a row and shared it with my neighbors. The original recipe didn’t need much improvement—just a simple swap and a handful of chocolate chips made it even more irresistible.
If you have ripe bananas to use up, be sure to check out my other banana recipes!
-maria doss
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Secret to soft and tender banana bread
The riper the bananas, the better! Overripe bananas add natural sweetness and moisture, helping to keep the bread soft.
Yogurt or sour cream adds moisture and fat, helping to create a soft, tender crumb, while it's tanginess balances out the sweetness.
Brown sugar adds more moisture than white sugar and enhances the flavor with deeper caramel notes that complement the natural sweetness of the ripe bananas. I go into more detail in brown sugar dessert recipes.
Using oil instead of butter is another key ingredient for making banana bread that stays moist for days.
Recipe tips
- Use ripe bananas. Ugly over ripe bananas with dark yellow skin and brown spots makes the best banana bread.
- Measure your mashed banana. It helps you bake the perect banana bread.
- Use a neutral oil like vegetable or canola oil.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! Chocolate chips are simply a flavor add-in, so leaving them out won’t change the basic structure or baking time of the banana bread. Just prepare the batter exactly as written and skip the chocolate chips when folding everything together.
If you’d like a little crunch instead, try adding chopped walnuts or toasted pecans. Both pair beautifully with the sweet banana flavor and add a nice contrast to the soft, tender crumb.
I recommend semi-sweet chocolate chips for banana bread. The ripe bananas and brown sugar already add plenty of sweetness, so semi-sweet chocolate gives you that rich, chocolatey flavor without making the loaf overly sweet.
Bittersweet chocolate chips are another great option if you prefer a deeper, less-sweet chocolate flavor. I’d skip milk chocolate chips unless you have a serious sweet tooth—they can make the bread quite sweet.
We use our favorite semi-sweet chocolate chips in this recipe, just like in our other chocolate chip recipes. If you love the banana-and-chocolate combination, you might also enjoy our chocolate chip banana muffins.
One of the easiest mistakes is adding bananas by count rather than measuring the mashed banana. Banana sizes can vary quite a bit, so even if a recipe calls for “2 large bananas,” the actual amount of bananas and moisture can be different every time. For consistent results, mash the bananas until smooth and measure the exact amount called for in the recipe.
Another common mistake is using underripe bananas. The best bananas for banana bread are very ripe and heavily spotted, as they provide more natural sweetness, stronger banana flavor, and plenty of moisture.
Chocolate chips can sink to the bottom when the batter is too thin, there are too many chips, or they aren’t evenly distributed. But you don’t need a separate step to toss the chocolate chips in flour for this recipe.
I simply add the chocolate chips along with the flour and gently fold everything together. As the flour is incorporated, it lightly coats the chocolate chips, helping them stay suspended throughout the batter instead of sinking to the bottom.
Just be careful not to overmix the batter once the flour goes in. Mix only until the flour is incorporated for a soft, tender loaf.
More Ways To Use Ripe Bananas
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups mashed banana (use 2 very large)
- 2 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup sour cream or yogurt
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup semi sweet chocolate chips plus more for topping
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) and spray the bottom and sides of a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with cooking spray or brush with melted butter.
- Mix dry ingredients. Whisk together 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients. Into another larger bowl, add 1 ¼ cups mashed banana, 2 eggs, 1 cup packed brown sugar, ½ cup sour cream, ½ cup oil and 1 teaspoon vanilla, and whisk until very smooth. 👉 Mash 2 large, ripe bananas until very smooth, then measure out 1¼ cups for the recipe. Measuring the mashed bananas ensures the right amount of moisture and gives you the best texture.
- Finish batter. Add the dry ingredients and ¾ cup chocolate chips. Stir until combined. Transfer batter into the prepared pan, smooth top, and sprinkle some more chocolate chips on top.
- Bake. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes clean. Place the pan on a wire rack and cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information, based on third-party calculations, should be seen as estimates, not guarantees, as various factors like product types, brands, processing methods, and more can alter the nutritional content in recipes.
How to make banana bread with chocolate chips?
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👩🍳 Don't have ripe bananas? I explain three different proven methods for ripening bananas faster in banana recipes.
How to store?
- At room temp: The texture is best when the chocolate chip banana bread is eaten fresh, but it can be stored, tightly wrapped with plastic wrap for up to four days.
- In the fridge: after a day at room temp I’d recommend storing the bread sealed in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before eating.
Freezing and Thawing Banana Bread
- To freeze the whole bread: Let the chocolate chip banana bread cool completely, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze the whole loaf for up to 3 months.
- To freeze individual slices - Make thick slices after the bread has cooled completely, stack 2 to 4 slices on top of each other, wrap them in two layers of plastic wrap. Place all wrapped slices in one or two zipper bags and freeze for up to 2 months.
- To thaw: Remove one of the pre packaged slices or the whole loaf, and place on the kitchen counter for several hours or overnight.
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Hi, I’m Maria! I share easy, flavor-packed dinners, high-protein meals, and irresistible baking ideas. If you’ve ever asked, “Don’t know what to cook tonight?” you’re in the right place. And yes—there’s plenty here for breakfast, snacks, and dessert too. More about maria ->
