This post may contain affiliate links
Add Bake with Zoha as a preferred source on Google and find more of my tried-and-tested recipes.
This Double Chocolate Banana Bread is like the Matilda chocolate cake of banana breads! It is fudgy, chocolatey and gooey without being too sweet, and the banana and chocolate flavors shine in every bite. And it’s genuinely easy to make: no mixer, melted butter, basic ingredients (no sour cream!). The secret to the rich chocolatey flavor is blooming the cocoa powder directly in hot water. This adds enough moisture that we don’t even need to add sour cream, yogurt or buttermilk!
It’s fudgy, not just moist!
I am no stranger to a good banana bread – both my brown butter chocolate chip banana bread and brownie swirl banana bread are very soft, moist and loaded with bananas. But this one goes beyond moist. It is fudgy, almost like brownies! There are a few tricks I learned from recipe testing to achieve this chocolatey flavor and texture:
- Bloomed Dutch processed cocoa powder. We bloom cocoa powder (Dutch processed recommended!) directly in boiling water to intensify its flavor and add moisture. This is the same trick I use in my favorite chocolate cake recipe! And a hint of coffee further enhances that flavor
- Butter and oil. While most recipes tend to use softened butter, I use melted butter (much easier to use) with a small amount of oil. This combination yields the softest banana bread texture that stays soft for days
- Brown sugar only. The combination of brown sugar and extra-ripe bananas creates an almost toffee-like flavor that I love!
- A LOT of bananas. We can’t let the banana flavor get overpowered by chocolate, so 400g (about 4 whole bananas) are added to this banana bread
- No need for sour cream or buttermilk. The combination of the ingredients above means our banana bread is already rich and moist enough that we don’t need to add any more dairy
Step by step photos
Let’s quickly go over the steps with photos to help you visualize this recipe!
Bake the banana bread until just cooked through. Let it rest for 30 minutes and you’re ready to enjoy!
Loaf pan size
I like my banana breads to be nice and tall, so I use an 8.5″x4.5″ loaf pan (1lb). The amount of batter fills this loaf pan almost to the top, but I’ve never had issues with overflow! However, if you’re worried about overflow (e.g., if your oven tends to run hot), you can use a 9″x5″ loaf pan (1.25 lb), or save ~1/2 cup of batter and bake it into a muffin instead.
Zoha’s tips before you make it
- Measure with a weighing scale for accuracy. This is especially important for flour and 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 first
- Use a light colored loaf pan. A dark pan will brown and cook the edges too fast and cause them to over-brown
- Get the baking time right. Use a toothpick inserted in the middle to test for doneness, it should have moist 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
Email This Recipe
Enter your email and I’ll send this directly to you. Plus you’ll get new recipes from me every week!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g), melted
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil (25g)
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp light brown sugar, packed (175g)
- 2 large eggs
- 4 medium bananas, extra ripe (400g)
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour (195g)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder (50g); I strongly recommend Dutch processed
- 1 tsp instant coffee; optional but recommended
- 1/2 cup boiling water (120g)
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips of choice (200-300g)
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 340F (conventional, no fan). Grease an 8.5″x4.5″ loaf pan (or a 9″x5″ loaf pan) with butter and line with parchment paper
- Melt the butter on the stove or in the microwave. Add it to a large mixing bowl along with the vegetable oil, brown sugar, eggs and bananas. Use a whisk to mash up the bananas and mix the ingredients until combined. A lumpy texture is ok, but make sure the banana chunks aren’t too big
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Use a spatula to gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet and stop mixing as soon as everything is combined
- In a separate bowl, add the cocoa powder and instant coffee. Pour over the boiling water, and carefully mix until a smooth, shiny mixture forms
- Pour the cocoa powder mixture into the rest of the batter, and gently fold until just combined
- Lastly, mix in the chocolate chips
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, and sprinkle over some more chocolate chips if desired
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for ~65-75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the banana bread comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter (sometimes a toothpick can look wet because it has melted chocolate on it – that’s different from the banana bread batter!)
- Remove the banana bread from the oven and let it cool down for at least 30 minutes. Then slice, serve and enjoy!
Video Tutorial
Notes
- Make ahead and storage: You can store this banana bread in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day, or in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat slices in a toaster oven or the microwave before eating, as it’s best eaten warm!
Comments
Sumbal Rehman
OH MY GOSH, It is literally so good, I think i overcooked mine a little bit and the sides got a little hard and dry but the middle part 🤯🤯🤯🤯 so AMAZINGGGG!!!!!!
Definitely a MUST TRY.
Zoha Malik
Thank you Sumbal!
Khadija Hussain
Hey. Can we use just oil instead of butter? And also i usually don’t have instant coffee at home anymore, can we replace it with a shot of coffee ( from the machine) 🙈
Zoha Malik
Hi there! Oil and butter are not interchangeable, so that won’t work. And you can replace the hot water with hot coffee if you’d rather use coffee from the machine instead of instant coffee! You could mix a shot with boiling water, and replace the hot water in this recipe with that coffee mix.
Jay
Very moist and delicious!
Zoha Malik
Yay!
Su B
What can be used instead of eggs?
Zoha Malik
hi there! try using flax seed eggs but eggs are a binding agent, so the texture won’t be the same 🙂
Sofia
Can we brown the butter?
Zoha Malik
Hi Sofia! You don’t need to as you won’t taste it
Shahana Mirza
Amazing recipe. I added some oat s a d flax seeds and it turned out amazing
Zoha Malik
Thank you for the kind review!
Marriam Khan
I love your videos! What brand of chocolate chips do you recommend for this recipe? I’m reading it through my phone so not sure if I missed it in the contents lol.
Zoha Malik
I’ve been using ghirardelli wafers recently and they’re phenomenal! Also callebaut chips, or lindt chopped choc
Asma Amer
Best cake i could ever make
Zoha Malik
Thank you!!
Mahnoor Aamer
Hey!!! I want to let you know that I made banana bread for the first time ever and it tasted soooo heavenly amazing!!!!
The only thing is that My bread tore from the top, that I didn’t understand why???
Zoha Malik
Yay so happy to hear that!! All breads will get a tear on top as they rise. this is because they have a lot of batter and by the time the middle heats up and rises, the top has formed a crust. this causes the crust to break so the batter can rise. Some people add a strip of butter in the middle of their breads so the bread can tear more neatly!
Irena
Absolutely incredible recipe! As soon as the newsletter came out and I saw this recipe I knew I had to make it. Needless to say it was devoured and almost gone the same day!
Zoha Malik
You made my day, Irena! Thank you!
Zara Sajid Choudhry
I tried this yesterday, and it was absolutely perfect! So moist, with beautifully balanced sweetness and such a rich, delicious flavor. Definitely going to be my go-to banana bread recipe from now on! 🍌🍞❤️
Zoha Malik
:’) Ahh this means so so much to me, thank you!!
Fiza Mamoon
OMGGG I CANNOT EVEN TELL YOU HOW GOOD THIS WAS 😭
This chocolate banana bread was HEAVENLY. So fudgy, SOOOO moist, and tasted absolutely AMAZINGGG. Every bite was just perfection.
I wanted to see if it would stay this moist for more than 2–3 days… BUT I LITERALLY COULDN’T 😭 It was completely eaten and finished in LESS THAN 4 HOURS—by me and my sisters, OFC.
So I guess we’ll never know how it tastes after 3 days because this thing DID NOT STAND A CHANCE. 😂
Zoha Malik
WOOOO you made my day!!! Thank you so so much. And I am dying laughing at the hope of keeping it alive for 3 days. It doesn’t last in my house either!
Fiza Mamoon
Hahaha! Made it for the second time today and finished it in less than 3 hours—quicker than the previous one 😂 Next time, I’ll probably have to make two!
Zoha Malik
hahahaha I love to hear that!!