The Best Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe (2024)

An easy banana bread recipe for kids packed with chocolate chips. This banana bread is baked to perfection, crunchy outside and moist inside, it’s the best banana bread recipe you’ll ever try. Toddler approved!

What do you do with overripe bananas that no one wants to eat anymore?

Don’t throw them away, either make this easy chocolate chip banana bread recipe (it’s a fantastic use for those black bananas on your counter!) or toss the overripe banana’s into your freezer for later.

Kitchen Tip: Freeze overripe bananas right in the peel or peel them and place them into a ziplock bag & freeze for later.

Frozen bananas can be used right from the freezer in recipes like this Blueberry Smoothie, Stacked Smoothie, or Banana Bread Muffins.

The recipe I’m sharing today is the best choc chip banana bread recipe I’ve had to date.

The method I use to bake this bread results in the most amazingly delicious & crispy outside, but perfectly moist inside – which is over the top yummy.

Watch the video or keep reading to learn how to make this easy banana bread recipe perfect every time!

How To Make

There are a few tricks you can use to make sure you have a delicious, moist chocolate chip banana bread every time:

• When folding wet ingredients into dry, make sure to not over stir. Just blend until most of the flour is mixed in.
• Use overly ripe bananas (or frozen) for moist bread
• Use oil, not butter, for moist bread (butter works better for cakes)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredientsincluding flour, salt, and baking soda
3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the wet ingredients including sugar, eggs, oil, and almond extract
4. Add the mashed bananas to the wet ingredients, stirringuntil well blended
5. Pour the wet ingredientsinto the dry ingredients stirring just until the ingredients start to blend
6. Add the chocolate chips and stir until just blended. Do not over stir
7. Prepare a 9×5 loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and pour batter into the pan
8. Bake for 8 minutes on 425 degrees, then decrease thetemperature to 350 degrees for 30- 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let’s take a closer look.

Start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees. The high heat is part of what contributes to the crunchy crust this amazing chocolate chip banana breadgets when it’s right out of the oven. This high heat helps the bread rise quickly for a taller, more domed result. This extra hot temp helps set the outer crust, developing a wonderful outside layer that will be browned with a delicious crunch.

Next, whisk together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. You’ll be adding all the ingredients to this bowl eventually.

In a separate medium-sized bowl, combine the wet ingredients together. Fold in the mashed bananas.

If you’re using frozen bananas from your freezer that are in the peel, thaw them by soaking in a bowl of hot water.

Once they are soft enough to mash, remove the peel. The bananas will not look appetizing nor pretty but that’s ok! Overripe bananas pack a huge flavor punch and that’s what we are after.

Pro Tip: It’s easiest to peel bananas that were frozen from the bottom rather than trying to get them apart at the stem.

Once you have the wet ingredients combined, add them to the dry ingredients.

When you have the wet and dry ingredients just starting to blend together, add the chocolate chips.

Additions or Substitutions

• Chopped nuts or seeds
• Coconut
• A few tablespoons of peanut butter
• Extra chocolate chips
• Butterscotch chips or toffee chips
• Fresh banana slices
• Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• milk chocolate chips

I stuck with simply semi-sweet chocolate chips. For more tips on taking banana bread to the next level with interesting ingredients check out his post from Serious Eats on 8 Easy Upgrades for Better Banana Bread.

Prepare your 9×5 loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Kitchen Tip: You could change the recipe up and use muffin tins to make Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins instead.

Bake your chocolate chip banana bread until a knife inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean.

Kitchen Tip: Store your banana bread in an airtight container for 1-2 days on the counter, for a week in the fridge, or 3 months frozen.

Pro Tip: Slice a loaf then spread the slices with a little butter and freeze in individual ziplock bags. This is perfect for grab-and-go snacks or lunch boxes!

This easy chocolate chip banana bread is the very best right out of the oven, but it is still delicious in the next few days as well.