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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.
Want even more chocolate? You might love my Fudgy Double Chocolate 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
Want even more chocolate? You might love my Fudgy Double Chocolate Banana Bread!
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:
Add the eggs, vanilla and coffee. Whisk until smooth:
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:
Sift in the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined:
Fold in the chocolate chips:
Bake, rest, and enjoy!
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.
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 1/2 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
Video Tutorial
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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
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 340F and line a 8.5 x 4.5 or 9 x 4 loaf pan with parchment paper
- Add the cubed butter to a saucepan. Place on medium low heat, and cook and stir for ~5-8 minutes until the butter has browned. It will melt first, then become bubbly and foamy before you see brown specks on the bottom and smell a lovely caramel-y scent. Be sure not to overcook, as it can burn quickly after browning
- Add the brown butter to a large bowl. Add the oil and brown sugar, and whisk for 1-2 minutes. If the mixture feels too hot, wait 5 minutes before proceeding
- Add the eggs, vanilla, and coffee dissolved in water. Whisk for 1-2 minutes until the mixture becomes smooth and lighter in color
- Add the mashed bananas and greek yogurt, and whisk until combined
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently whisk until the dry ingredients are combined and no lumps or streaks of flour remain
- Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips. Do not overmix
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. It is a generous amount of batter – so if you are worried it will overflow, you can remove ~1/2 cup and bake it separately as a muffin. Optionally, you can sprinkle more chocolate chips on top
- Bake for 65 to 75 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with light crumbs but no wet batter
- Remove from the oven and let the banana bread rest in the loaf until it fully cools down. This can take a while, try not to rush! Once cooled, remove from the pan, serve & enjoy!
Notes
- Sugar: Brown sugar gives this recipe an extra moist and caramely flavor! However, if in a pinch, you may replace it with white granulated sugar
- Making banana bread without chocolate: You can easily remove the chocolate chips to turn this into plain banana bread, or replace them with other mix ins like walnuts or peanut butter chips
- Make ahead & storing: You can make this bread beforehand and store it in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days (or in the fridge for up to 5 days). I recommend reheating each slice in the microwave before serving
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
Comments
yamna
can i use almond flour instead of AP flour? and will it weigh the same as AP flour?
Zoha Malik
So sorry I suspect almond flour will make the banana bread too crumbly! instead, try 1:1 gluten free flour. Still risky but less so
Yamna Ansar
thankyou for your reply, I will try this gluten free and will share my feedback
Bushra
We make this cake pretty much weekly, following recipe to the dot. It’s perfect and our friends and family love it. We still haven’t tired of it! Thank you Zoha!
Zoha Malik
HUGS thank you!!
noor
All my friends and family are OBSESSED with this banana bread 😭🤎 They keep asking me to make it 2–3 times a month! Sometimes I add cinnamon or hazelnuts, and it turns out even more delicious. ✨ Honestly, one of the best recipes I’ve ever made!
Zoha Malik
All those versions sound so delicious! Thank you SO much <3
FZ
Can I use regular yogurt instead of Greek yogurt? Or how else can I substitute Greek yogurt?
Zoha Malik
Regular full fat yogurt will work!
Sidra
Hi zoha…i m gonna make this bread for the very first time…but i m so confused bcz i have an air fryer oven of 12 litre and 1900watts with top and bottom heating both at the same time,there is no other option..kindly suggest what time and temperature should i adjust to make a perfect banana bread.. kindly reply asap
Zoha Malik
I would recommend baking it in a 9” round pan and lowering the temperature by 25F
Sou C
I really wanted to love this recipe, but it wasn’t successful for me. I carefully weighed all of the ingredients, used a metal loaf pan as recommended, and extended the baking time beyond 65 minutes until a cake tester came out clean. Despite that, the loaf was still quite wet, dense and gooey when I sliced it the following day. The taste was excellent, but the texture wasn’t what I expect from banana bread. While this recipe may work well for others, I’ve had better luck with other banana bread recipes.
Zoha Malik
Hi Sou! Thank you for the review. To me it sounds like the loaf was underbaked – could be due to differences in ovens.
anju
Thank you zoha… Tried it n it turned out great.
Ahla malik
Hey wanna ask one small question .. can i use olive oil in place of vegatable oil
Zoha Malik
Olive oil has a very strong flavor so I can’t recommend it!
Ammara
Exactly 100% Correct
Aneeza
I have tried a lot of banana bread recipes and I make it every week.
This has to be best recipe!
Why isn’t it at the top?
Everyone, trust me. THIS IS IT!
The softest banana bread I have ever had.
I reduced the sugar to half a cup and it turned out great.
Zoha Malik
AWW thank you! HUGS!
jawaria
What can we replace the greek yoghurt with?
Zoha Malik
Try sour cream!
Laiba
It was soo good!
Abiha
Hey Zoha! Please let me know how I can make this in the air fryer. At what temperate and time
Zoha Malik
I don’t think it will work well in an air fryer, I am sorry!
Anam Sabir
Tried your recepie, the taste was great but mine was dense not soft what can be the reason as i am a beginner. also do I weigh the bananas after peeling and being mashed or before.
Your brown butter banana cookies are the best and everyone loved them n fudge brownie is out of this world.
Jazak Allah khair for these easy recepie
Zoha Malik
Hi there! weigh bananas without the peels, doesn’t matter if they’re mashed or not. And if it’s feeling dense, you might have under baked it. Reduce the temperature of your oven by 20 degrees and bake the bread for longer!
Veronica
Hi Zoha,
Do you cover your banana bread the last minutes of baking? I’m going to try your recipe but every time I do banana bread it ends up burning on the top.
Do you have any recommendations?
Zoha Malik
It depends on your oven – since mine is bottom heating only, it doesn’t burn on top. If you feel like yours is, you can place a sheet of aluminum foil on top towards the end of the bake to prevent it.
Cleo B
Is it bottom heat element with or without the fan?
Zoha Malik
No fan!
Turab
This bread was match made in heaven so balanced l simply loved it with my homemade Vanilla bean ice cream
Zoha Malik
AWW thank you so much, Turab!
Ammara
I love this recipe especially u don’t feel there’s any coffee in the banana bread I think makes it rich in flavor I substituted the AP flour with Oats flour and it’s turned out Heavenly 😋
Zoha Malik
Yum! Thank you for the kind review, Ammara!
Mansi Galvankar
This is heaven!! Making it 3rd time today !! Thank you
Zoha Malik
Aw yay! I am glad you like it!
Aneena
This recipe is really amazing. I cut down on the sugar (used 1/2 instead of 3/4) but it was really yummy. I’ve tried many variations but this recipe is truly amazing. Thanks for putting this up
Zoha Malik
AW thank you so much, Aneena! made my day!
Mahnoor
It was my first time baking a banana bread and Omgg it turned out to be so so good I couldn’t stop eating it.
Zoha Malik
yayyyy made my day!
Rad
I keep coming back to this recipe, because it really is the best. Super moist and everything you want a banana bread to be! Thank you Zoha!
Zoha Malik
Hugs, thank you! x