Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Posted On May 20, 2020 By Brandy Gales

Sliced chocolate chip banana bread on a plate.

I know, I know, everyone seems to be making Banana Bread right now. It’s so common, there are even memes created celebrating the humor of it. With all the options out there, I wanted to try my hand at this, but change it up a little. The use of chocolate chips, ONLY brown sugar and almond flour mix up the flavor of traditional Banana bread as well as render one that is lower in carbs yet high in flavor.

You can easily make this recipe your own by swapping out the flour or sugar for what you prefer, what is nice as it won’t affect the end result too much. The main reason I use brown sugar is because I get more sweetness with less overall sugar being used and it makes a denser, moister bread. The idea here is that you can still make banana bread even if you find yourself short on one ingredient or the other, except the baking powder or soda (whichever you prefer). You must use this ingredient especially if you use almond flour as I did or your loaf will not rise. I learned that one the hard way.

chocolate chip banana bread on a plate

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 50–60 minutes

Total time: About an hour

What You Need

  • Cooking spray
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (½ a stick)
  • 3 large eggs
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 4 medium bananas, very ripe, peeled and coarsely mashed
  • 2 ½ cups almond flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
  • 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

What You Will Do

  1. Arrange a rack in the bottom third of the oven and heat to 350°F. Spray the entire inside of an 8x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and place aside.
  2. Soften the butter (but do not melt) and place aside in a bowl a large mixing bowl.
  3. In this same large mixing bowl combine the butter and sugar continuously stir until the consistency is smooth and the color is golden brown.
  4. Add the eggs. Crack the eggs into the bowl. Whisk with a fork and then stir until completely combined and the mixture is smooth.
  5. Add the milk, grapeseed oil and vanilla. Stir completely until all is combined.
  6. Mash in the bananas. Peel the bananas and add them to the bowl. Using the end of the whisk or a dinner fork, mash them into the batter. Leave the bananas as chunky or as smooth as you prefer. If you prefer an entirely smooth banana bread, mash the bananas separately until no more lumps remain, and then whisk them into the batter.
  7. Add the almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Using a spatula and gently stir until the ingredients are just barely combined and no more dry flour is visible.
  8. Pour the batter into the pan. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, using the spatula to scrape all the batter from the bowl. Smooth the top of the batter.
  9. Bake for 20 minutes, then pull out quickly and sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and place back in the oven.
  10. Bake for 30 to 45 more minutes. Bake until the top of the cake is caramelized dark brown with some yellow interior peeking through and a toothpick or fork the middle comes out clean. Baking time will vary slightly depending on the moisture and sugar content of your bananas — start checking around 50 minutes and then every 5 minutes after. Total cooking time is 50-65 minutes.
  11. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Set the loaf, still in the pan, on a wire cooling rack. Let it cool for 10 minutes — this helps the loaf solidify and makes it easier to remove from the pan.

Some Recipe Explanations

  • Personally, I like to leave some banana chunks in my bread and I also like the one-bowl simplicity of mashing the bananas directly into the batter. If you are anti-chunk and like your bananas to be completely smooth, I recommend mashing them into a pulp in a separate bowl and then mixing them into the batter.
  • As you will see I use grapeseed oil in this recipe. I do this as I find it helps to make sure the loaf binds well together as it cooks well in high heat. Although this may be omitted, simply substitute and add 1 tablespoon more of unsalted butter, so 5 tablespoons total.
  • As you see I add my chocolate chips after the bread has started baking. This allows the loafs to start to solidify and the chocolate chips to bake and stay on the top of the bread. This is the way my children like to see it. You may also cook the chocolate chips in the loaf. I recommend sprinkling on top right before placing in the oven. If you stir the chocolate chips in to your batter, I find they tend to fall to the bottom and harden.
  • Storage: Wrap leftovers tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for several days, or wrap the bread in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months.

Now the last thing you have to say as my Daughter would say is Eat, Eat and CHOCOALTE!!!!!!! Enjoy!

A child eating chocolate chip banana bread

Now the last thing you have to do as my daughter would say is Eat, Eat.