Super Easy Dark Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread
This sweet and moist banana bread is studded with dark chocolate chunks! It’s a super easy one-bowl recipe that is perfect for breakfast, brunch, or an afternoon snack.
I can’t believe I haven’t shared this chocolate chunk banana bread recipe! I’ve been making this version of banana bread since I was ten years old – in fact, this is the first recipe I ever received a compliment for. I made it to take to a party at my church, and one lady wanted to know who made the bread since it was so sweet and dense. My mom pointed me out, and I glowed for days. It’s still one of my favorite recipes — by far the best best banana bread recipe I’ve ever made.
I believe the base of this easy recipe came from the back of a flour bag. I’ve worked with it since, reducing the sugar, increasing the banana flavor, adding chocolate chunks, and generally tweaking it until it has become the perfect loaf of banana bread. It’s moist, it’s sweet, it has lovely little nuggets of chocolate, and the banana flavor is just right – not too overwhelming and not lost in the rest of the ingredients.
Why you want this recipe
- one-bowl recipe
- super easy
- great way to use up brown bananas
- can be turned into mini-loaves or muffins
- perfect crumb
- gorgeous melted chocolate chunks!
Ingredients
This tasty loaf is made from simple ingredients you may already have in your pantry. No fancy stuff here!
- Butter: The base of this bread is butter and sugar, which should tell you everything you need to know. Margarine works as a substitute for the butter in this recipe. It makes a very minor difference in the texture, but that’s it!
- White Sugar: This is a very sweet banana bread. If you want a more dense loaf with deeper flavor, you can sub half the white sugar for brown sugar. Personally, I love the lightness of the flavor the granulated sugar gives.
- Over-Ripe Bananas: You want your bananas very ripe. Overripe bananas have a ton of concentrated flavor, so super ripe bananas are what you want to use to create your best banana bread. You can even add an extra banana if you want to increase the banana flavor.
- Milk: You can use any milk you’d like. I’ve tested this recipe with whole milk, 2%, and skim. I didn’t notice a whole lot of difference between the 2% and skim. The whole milk definitely made a richer loaf.
- Lemon Juice: This keeps the bread from getting too brown, keeping it a light and lovely yellow!
- Flour: This recipe uses all-purpose flour. I’ve never tested any other kind so I can’t speak to how your bread might turn out, but if you try something leave a comment and tell us how it went.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: The combination of both of these is the secret to that gorgeous crumb!
- Salt: This brings out the flavors of both the banana and the chocolate.
- Chocolate Chunks or Chocolate Chips: Chocolate chunks are sold under a few names, including chunks, “chipppers,” and morsels. If you can’t find any of those, you can also use a chopped chocolate bar or chocolate chips. This recipe tastes perfect with dark chocolate chunks, but you can consider milk chocolate ,bittersweet chocolate, or semi-sweet chocolate as well!
Instructions
Step 1 | Cream Butter and Sugar
Creaming the butter and sugar creates a fluffy and delicious base for the rest of the ingredients. It has a direct effect on the texture of the final product. In a large bowl, you can use an electric mixer to cream your butter and sugar.
Step 2 | Wet Ingredients
Next, add the rest of the wet ingredients (milk, bananas, and lemon juice) to the butter and sugar. Mix them well.
Step 3 | Dry Ingredients
Your final step on the batter is to add the dry ingredients, including flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chunks of chocolate. Mix them together until you get a thick batter.
Next, either grease and flour a loaf pan, or line one with parchment paper. Pour your banana mixture into your prepared pan and use a spatula to even it out. You can also sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top of the loaf for aesthetic purposes.
Step 4 | Bake and Enjoy!
Put your prepared loaf pan into the oven at 350° for 45-50 minutes. Your banana bread is ready when a toothpick or knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Before you serve your bread, let it cool for 15-20 minutes. If you cut it too early, it will crumble and fall apart. Once it’s cooled a little, it’ll be your favorite banana bread — moist, sweet, and oh-so-good!
Variations
If you crave a little variety, this base recipe can be customized to create several different banana bread recipes. Here are a few of my favorite:
- Banana Muffins: Fill a muffin tin with muffin liners. Spoon the banana bread batter into each liner. You’ll want to fill them about 2/3 of the way full. Bake your muffins for 12-15 minutes at 350°.
- Banana Mini Loaves: Grease and flour a mini loaf pan. Pour the batter into the pan, filling it about 2/3 of the way. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.
- Banana Donuts with Chocolate Glaze: You can bake this batter in a donut pan. Check out the linked post for a delicious chocolate glaze!
- Banana Peanut Butter Bread: Switch peanut butter chips for the chocolate chunks.
- Hawaiian Banana Bread: Add chopped macadamia nuts and 1/2 cup shredded coconut to the batter. Bake as directed.
More delicious banana recipes
FAQs
Yes, you can add chopped nuts like walnuts, pecans, or almonds, as well as dried fruits such as raisins, cranberries, or chopped apricots for added texture and flavor.
Yes, you can use frozen bananas for banana chocolate chunk bread. You will need to thaw them enough that they can be mixed in to the batter. Be aware that frozen bananas may yield a slightly more watery texture compared to fresh bananas.
You can store banana chocolate chunk bread at room temperature for up to 3-4 days if properly wrapped to prevent it from drying out. You can also refrigerate it for longer freshness, but it may lose some of its moisture.
Yes, you can freeze banana chocolate chunk bread. Allow it to cool completely, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and store it in an airtight container or freezer bag. It can be frozen for up to 2-3 months. Thaw slices at room temperature or briefly in the microwave before serving.
Banana Dark Chocolate Chunk Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2-3 overripe bananas
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 cups flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup dark chocolate chunks or chips
Instructions
- Mix together butter, sugar, bananas, lemon juice, and milk.
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add chocolate chunks or chips.
- Spread batter in greased and floured loaf pan.
- Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until knife inserted into center comes out clean.
Notes
mini loaves are so fun! you’ve reminded me how awesome it is to slip chocolate chips into banana bread!
Chocolate chips make almost everything better!
This bread looks absolutely lovely! Over-ripe bananas happen often in my home, so I’ll definitely need to try out your recipe! Thanks for sharing.
Sarah recently posted…Almond Cake
Thanks! Hope you enjoy 🙂
These look really good, and just the right size!!!
Colleen recently posted…Stove Top Mac and Cheese
They’re perfect. It’s so easy to take a loaf to work for lunch or something 😉