The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Name: The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g); 2 tbsp vegetable oil (25g); ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed (150g); 2 large eggs; 1 tsp vanilla; 1 tsp instant coffee + 1 teaspoon hot water; 4 extra ripe bananas, mashed (about 440g); ½ cup Greek yogurt (120g); 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour (227g); 1 tsp baking powder; ½ tsp baking soda; ½ tsp salt; 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate of choice (300g); I recommend semi-sweet or dark

Modified: Oct 7, 2025 · Published: May 8, 2025 by Zoha · This post may contain affiliate links · 62 Comments

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This is the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, a classic recipe honed to perfection. It is a no fuss, one-bowl recipe requiring only 15 minutes of work and makes the most delicious banana bread: soft and moist without being dense or stodgy, with a nutty banana flavor that isn't too sweet, and a generous amount of chocolate.

close up of a slice of banana bread. the bread looks soft and moist with lots of chocolate chips

Read the full blog post below for detailed notes, tips, tricks, photos and videos. Not in the mood for chocolate? Try my regular banana bread with a cinnamon sugar crunch on top instead!

4 slices of banana bread stacked on top of each other with chocolate chips visible on them, pictured from an angle

fork taking a bite out of a slice of soft and moist banana bread

What makes this banana bread special?

👩‍🍳A quick and easy, no fuss recipe. It comes together in one bowl with just about 15 minutes of work. No fancy ingredients, no complicated steps

✨ A crispy, golden crust. When it comes to banana bread, I am all about the crispy edges - they make you appreciate the soft interior more!

🍯 A soft and moist interior without being dense or stodgy. It is incredibly tender and moist with a velvety, melt-in-the-mouth feel while still being light enough to enjoy a slice or two (or three)

🍌 The perfectly balanced banana flavor. The banana flavor shines without being overly sweet, which is a trap many recipes fall into!

🧈 Nutty caramel goodness from brown butter. Once you make banana bread with brown butter, you're never going back

☕️ A beautiful hint of coffee. If you've ever paired a slice of banana bread with a cup of coffee, you know this combination is heavenly

🍫 The *right* amount of chocolate. AKA a lot of chocolate measured with your heart

🍞 The perfect size. This banana bread is a proper loaf with height, giving way to the perfect slices

Video tutorial

Here is a short video tutorial for this chocolate chip banana bread recipe:

Step by step photos

Let's quickly go over the steps with photos to help you visualize this banana bread recipe:

Whisk the brown butter and brown sugar:

brown butter and brown sugar in a wooden bowl

brown sugar and butter whisked together in a wooden bowl

Add the eggs, vanilla and coffee. Whisk until smooth:

eggs, vanilla and coffee added to butter and sugar mixture

wet ingredients for banana bread mixed together

Mash the bananas:

Tip: If you're using an electric hand mixer instead of a whisk, you can add the bananas whole to the batter and whisk them in. They will automatically get mashed!

Add the bananas and yogurt to the batter and whisk until combined:

mashed bananas and sour cream added to wet ingredients

mashed bananas whisked into the ingredients

Sift in the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined:

dry ingredients added to wet ingredients in wooden bowl

thick and gooey banana bread batter in a wooden bowl

Fold in the chocolate chips:

chocolate chips added to banana bread batter in a wooden bowl

thick and gooey banana bread batter with chocolate chips in a wooden bowl

Bake, rest, and enjoy!

4 slices of banana bread stacked on top of each other with chocolate chips visible on them

close up of sliced banana bread from the side to show the moist chocolatey interior

The perfect loaf pan

Using the right size and shape of a loaf pan is important in achieving the perfect banana bread (or any loaf cake). I use this exact loaf pan from USA Pan, and highly recommend it. It is 8.5" x 4.5" with perfectly straight edges, and makes banana bread with the right height. It is also a light colored pan, which prevents the edges of the banana bread from darkening too quickly.

loaf of banana bread with some slices cut laying next to it

Tips to perfect this chocolate chip banana bread

This recipe is simple, but a few key tips can make all the difference between good and amazing:

Measure with a weighing scale for accuracy. This is especially important for flour, as measuring cups can easily over-measure flour resulting in a dense and dry bread, and for the bananas

Make sure your bananas are extra ripe! The more brown spots, the stronger the flavor. If in a pinch, bake the bananas at 350F for 5-8 minutes to caramelize them before use

Use dark or semi-sweet chocolate. This will help balance the sweetness of the banana bread. Milk chocolate instead will tip things too far

Use a light colored loaf pan. A dark pan will brown and cook the edges too fast

Be cautious of the amount of batter. This recipe makes a generous amount of batter that will almost fill the loaf pan to the top. If you're worried about overflow (and especially if your loaf pan is less than 2.75" in height), bake ½ cup to 1 cup of the batter separately as a muffin

Get the baking time right. Use a toothpick inserted in the middle to test for doneness, it should have light crumbs but no wet batter. Underbaking will cause the bread to sink!

Let it fully cool down. This banana bread will fall apart if you try to slice it while it's warm. Let it fully cool down at room temperature before slicing in

More classic recipes

Some other classic recipes I think you will really love:

The PERFECT Vanilla Creme Brulee that takes only 5 ingredients and 10 minutes of work
The BEST New York Style Cheesecake with the most insanely creamy texture and a crispy graham cracker crust
My perfect and super easy classic chocolate cake with a simple chocolate ganache frosting
The best Classic Italian Tiramisu with the perfect ratio of cream to ladyfingers and a beautifully balanced flavor

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