Name: Moist Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 3 ripe bananas; ¼ cup granulated sugar; ¼ cup light brown sugar; ⅓ cup applesauce ((or apple butter)); ⅓ cup avocado oil ((plus a bit more to grease your loaf pan)); 1 egg; 1 tsp vanilla extract; ½ tsp cinnamon; 2 cups flour ((any type)); 1 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp baking soda; ¼ tsp sea salt; 1¼ cups chocolate chips

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This moist chocolate banana bread recipe combines deliciously sweet bananas, applesauce, and chocolate chips for a perfect fluffy treat. The soft bread makes a great dessert, snack, or decadent breakfast!

A slice of moist chocolate banana bread on a white plate.

I love quick breads. Quick breads are simple and fast to make, and they’re not fussy. You can swap out ingredients pretty easily, too.

Banana bread is great, and banana nut bread is even better, in my opinion. But when you want to turn it into something exciting for a special occasion like Easter, the Fourth of July, Christmas, or New Year’s Day, try adding chocolate chips and applesauce (or apple butter)!

My family loves waking up to indulgent chocolate banana bread. And they scarf it down quicker than it takes to bake in the oven! So now I bake two loaves at a time. I’ve learned my lesson.

A loaf of moist chocolate banana bread on a wood cutting board on a kitchen counter.

Irresistible Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe

This chocolate banana bread recipe is great for beginners. Not only is it delicious and simple to make, but it’s versatile and can be used for nearly every special occasion. It’s perfect as an indulgent breakfast, snack, and dessert!

Ingredients

Ripe bananas – You will need three ripe bananas for this recipe. They can either be fresh, or previously frozen then thawed.

Granulated sugar – Use 1/4 cup of granulated sugar to make this chocolate banana bread sweet.

Light brown sugar – Use 1/4 cup of light brown sugar to add a bit of molasses flavor to your bread.

Applesauce – I use homemade apple butter, but store bought applesauce also works for this recipe. You’ll need 1/3 cup.

Avocado oil – Use 1/3 cup of neutral-flavored avocado oil in this recipe. Olive oil will impart the olive oil taste, which isn’t great in a sweet treat like this.

Egg – Most quick breads require an egg. However, if you don’t have eggs or if you’re allergic to eggs, just add an extra third cup of applesauce.

Vanilla extract – Use one teaspoon of good vanilla extract for great flavor.

Cinnamon – Use a half teaspoon of an organic ceylon cinnamon powder if you can. It has great flavor.

Flour – You will need two cups of flour to bake one loaf. I like to make quick breads using freshly milled flour (usually use a mixture of half hard red wheat and half soft white wheat). However, you can also use all purpose flour or any combination of each. This recipe is very forgiving.

Baking powder – This recipe calls for one teaspoon of baking powder.

Baking soda – You’ll need one teaspoon of baking soda.

Sea salt – Use 1/4 teaspoon of a good quality kosher sea salt. Redmond real salt is my favorite.

Chocolate chips – I like using mini chocolate chips, but regular size chocolate chips will work, too. You’ll need 1 and 1/4 cups.

Tools You May Need

Loaf pan – Go with a glass or stainless steel loaf pan if you can.

Mixing bowl – You will need a large mixing bowl for this recipe.

Measuring cups and spoons

Spatula – Or you can use a long wooden spoon or dough whisk. I like the flexible mashing action that a rubber spatula gives, though. It makes mashing the bananas easier.

Toothpick – You can also use a sharp knife or skewer.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

Woman cutting a piece of chocolate banana bread on a white plate with a silver fork.

How to Make Chocolate Banana Bread

I love no-fail quick bread recipes, and this one is a family favorite. You pretty much just dump all the ingredients into a mixing bowl, stir them together, plop the batter into a greased loaf pan, and bake it in the oven for an hour. And for your effort, you can expect your family to gobble down the bread as fast as it took you to do the mixing!

Mix the Batter

First, get out all your ingredients and tools. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Second, be sure to grease a loaf pan with a little bit of avocado oil.

Woman mashing three ripened bananas in a glass mixing bowl with a white rubber spatula.

Put three soft bananas into your mixing bowl, and mash them with the back of your spatula. They should get lumpy.

Farm Cook Tip: Peel and freeze ripe bananas that you don’t intend to use. When you accumulate enough, thaw them on your counter or in your fridge and make a loaf of this amazing quick bread!

Woman adding light brown sugar and granulated sugar into a glass bowl with mashed bananas.

Next, add in 1/4 cup of light brown sugar and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. You can decrease the amount of sugar to suit your tastes.

Woman adding apple butter to a glass mixing bowl of sweetened, mashed bananas.

After that, add 1/3 cup of apple butter or applesauce. If you’re skipping the egg in the next step, add an extra 1/3 cup of applesauce.

If you’d like to learn an important, time-honored skill, I share how to make and can homemade apple butter in this post!

Woman mixing ingredients in a glass bowl with a white rubber spatula.

Next, add all the wet ingredients. You’ll need 1/3 cup of avocado oil, one egg, and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

I share how you can make your own homemade vanilla extract for cheap in this post!

Woman adding dry ingredients to a glass mixing bowl of mashed banana and other wet ingredients for making chocolate banana bread.

Then add all the dry ingredients. I just dump them all into the same mixing bowl with the wet ingredients. But if that makes you uncomfortable, you can sift your dry ingredients together in a separate mixing bowl before adding to your wet batter.

You need 2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Mix it together well. The batter will be slightly lumpy.

Woman stirring in chocolate chips into chocolate banana bread batter in a glass mixing bowl.

Then mix in 1 and 1/4 cups of chocolate chips. I prefer to use mini chocolate chips but use what you have.

Chocolate banana bread batter in a stainless steel loaf pan sitting on a kitchen counter.

Bake your Chocolate Banana Bread

Pour the wet batter into your greased loaf pan. After that, bake it in the oven at 350°F for 55 to 60 minutes until it’s thoroughly cooked and a toothpick comes out clean.

A freshly baked loaf of moist chocolate banana bread in a stainless steel loaf pan, sitting on a gas stove.

And that’s it! Allow your bread to cool down for about 15 minutes (if you can) before slicing into it.

You can slice and serve it right from the loaf pan, or you can turn it out onto a wood cutting board first. Either way, it won’t last long!

Recipe Card

Moist Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe

This chocolate banana bread recipe is moist, delicious, and irresistible. If you want a fun twist on classic banana bread or banana nut bread, simply add the chocolate chips and applesauce as indicated in the recipe! Easily swap out ingredients to suit your taste. Freshly milled flour can be swapped with all purpose flour or you can use a mixture.

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 10

Serving Size 1 loaf