BAKE: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (Muffins or Loaves)
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Ingredients
- Kitchen Equipment Needed
- How to Make Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread
- Storage & Freezing Tips
- Banana Nut Bread Trifle & Other Serving Ideas
- Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread Muffins
This easy banana bread recipe was my mother’s… it is tender, sweet, and can be used to make banana muffins or traditional loaves. I add toasted walnuts and chocolate chips to make it extra special… this is ultimate comfort food!
The semi-sweet chocolate and nutty crunch takes these banana nut muffins or quick bread from basic to anything-but-boring. If you like chunky monkey ice cream, you’ll love this chocolate chip banana bread.
I like to toast thick slices of this banana nut bread, just until the chocolate starts to melt, and slather on some salted butter for a decadent breakfast or afternoon snack with a mug of hot tea.
Try it with peanut butter (or your favorite nut butter) or even Nutella for an over-the-top treat… Or you can bake this batter up as muffins for a perfect lunch-box friendly snack or healthy dessert. This is a kid-tested snack recipe that adults love too!
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Ingredients
Flour:
For a soft, dessert-like banana bread loaf or muffins with a tender cake texture, use all purpose flour. The nutrition calculation for this recipe was done with unbleached all purpose flour.
You can replace all or part of the flour with whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour for a heartier, healthier muffin that’s higher in fiber and other nutrients, though they will be more dense and less soft than muffins made with white flour.
Using half whole wheat pastry flour and half AP flour is a good balance for a healthier muffin that is still soft and tender.
Banana:
Use very sweet, soft, over-ripe bananas for banana bread for the best flavor and texture. You want them either dark yellow with evenly spotted peels, or completely brown. Do not use bananas that have turned completely black and are beginning to spoil, or that have any mold on them or an unpleasant smell.
But good news! Frozen bananas work perfectly for this recipe, so you don’t have to wait around until your fresh bananas have perfectly browned to make banana bread.
You can either mash, portion, and freeze them, or peel and freeze them whole and quickly mash them into a measuring cup as they thaw.
You’ll need about 2-3 medium-small bananas to yield one cup of mashed puree, or 1-2 large bananas. Freeze or save any excess banana puree for smoothies, or spread it on a toasted slice of banana bread… yum!
Sugar:
This banana bread recipe uses white granulated sugar. I have not tested it with sugar substitutes or other types of sugar.
Butter:
You can use unsalted or salted butter for this recipe, as you prefer. Nutrition information was calculated with unsalted butter (but as always, nutrition information provided is an estimate). If you use salted butter, you may want to reduce or omit the additional salt.
Eggs:
Use two large, fresh eggs. Eggs provide structure to the batter, holding the air bubbles and making the banana bread or muffins light and tender. They also add protein.
If you use an egg-substitute (ground flaxseeds or egg replacement powder) it will change the estimated nutritional information, but because banana is also a common egg substitute, it’s possible to get good results with substitutions if necessary (for allergies, or because your store just didn’t have eggs, which is a thing we have to worry about now?). If you tried one of these and it worked out for you, let us know in the comments!
Other ingredients:
I use natural vanilla extract and salt for flavor, and baking soda for leavening. The bananas are acidic, and react with the baking soda to create the CO2 bubbles that make this banana bread rise.
Because baking soda is a single-action leavening (meaning it’s activated when it gets wet in contact with the acidic ingredients, and not a second time in the oven from heat), I don’t recommend making this batter in advance. Bake your banana muffins or bread right after mixing for the best results!
You can bake this recipe as a plain banana bread loaf, but I prefer adding chopped walnuts (toast them first for even more nutty flavor) and semi-sweet chocolate chips to make the ultimate chunky monkey banana nut chocolate chip muffins… they’re so good!
Kitchen Equipment Needed
stand or hand mixer:
This is optional, as you can certainly mix this banana muffin batter by hand, but it’s a lot easier and faster if you have a stand mixer or a hand-held one!
Use the paddle attachment on a stand mixer or standard beaters to cream the butter and sugar, and to add the egg & vanilla.
You can mix the entire batter with a stand mixer, but I recommend switching to hand mixing to incorporate the dry ingredients if you are using a hand mixer so that you don’t accidentally over-mix and end up with tough muffins.
muffin or loaf pan:
You can use this basic banana bread recipe to make either muffins, a full-size tea loaf, or mini loaves. The baking times will change but otherwise, the method and baking temperature are the same.
I like to use reusable non-stick silicone muffin tin liners in metal muffin tins. You can bake in these muffin liners without the metal tins, but it’s easier to move and fill them, and they hold their shape perfectly without sticking.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread
Cream butter & sugar:
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until softened. You can also use a hand mixer or mix by hand with a sturdy wooden spoon.
- Add the sugar and mix again until the mixture is light and fluffy and no large lumps remain. Scrape down the bowl and mix again.
Add egg & banana:
- Crack the eggs individually into a small bowl, mix with a fork, and add one at a time to the creamed butter and sugar.
- Mix well, scraping the bowl down between additions of egg.
- Next, add the cup of mashed banana, and mix well. This should be a relatively thin batter, with a consistency similar to pancake batter (see photo 4 above).
mix dry ingredients:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Measure the flour into a small mixing bowl.
- Sift the baking soda and salt into the flour, and sift or whisk to mix.
add dry ingredients:
- Add the flour, salt, and leavening mixture to the mixing bowl.
- Pulse the mixer, mixing for a few seconds at a time on a low speed, or gently fold by hand with a spatula.
- Lower the mixer bowl and scrape down the bowl, raise the bowl again, and mix on low speed just until no dry clumps remain.
fold in nuts & chips:
- Add the toasted chopped nuts and chocolate chips to the banana bread batter.
- Mix again gently or fold by hand just until the chocolate chips and the nuts are evenly mixed into the batter.
- The batter will be chunky and thick, but should not have any dry spots or large lumps remaining.
fill muffin tins or loaf pans:
- Spray your muffin tins or loaf pans with baking spray, or brush them with melted or softened butter and then dust with flour. Alternately, use nonstick baking tins or silicone baking cups or pans.
- Scoop the batter into your prepared pans, dividing evenly to make 12 regular muffins, 6 jumbo muffins, or 24 mini-muffins.
- Alternately, pour the batter into one standard size loaf pan or up to four mini loaf pans.
bake banana bread muffins or loaves:
- Place the pans on a rack in the center of your preheated 350℉ oven.
- Bake muffins 25-30 minutes, or about 45-50 minutes for loaves.
- Test the muffins or loaf with a bamboo or metal skewer towards the end of the baking time. When the muffins are done, only crumbs will cling to the skewer.
- If the tops are still soft or jiggly, bake longer and check when the tops are evenly brown and lightly set. Your baking time will vary (depending on your individual oven and what material your pans are made from).
Storage & Freezing Tips
These muffins or banana bread are amazing while still warm from the oven, but they’ll stay fresh for up to a week. Keep them in an air-tight container or zip-seal bag.
In cold weather, I’ll leave these out in the bread box, but if the weather is very hot or you keep a warm house, I recommend refrigerating or freezing your banana bread or muffins if you won’t be eating them within a few days so that they don’t spoil.
You can slice the loaves before freezing, wrap well, and toast individual slices to thaw (you may want to separate the slices with waxed or parchment paper squares or wrap individually). Thaw muffins overnight, or quickly defrost in a microwave.
Banana Nut Bread Trifle & Other Serving Ideas
We usually just eat these plain, or split, slightly warmed, and buttered, but you can also use this recipe as a base for other more complicated desserts or breakfast parfaits.
Refrigerating baked goods can make them go stale faster, but if you somehow find yourself with some slightly dry banana bread, you can always dice these into cubes, toast them lightly, and make an amazing layered trifle or banana pudding with fresh fruit, whipped cream, or vanilla pudding!
For a healthier option, layer slices of banana loaf or muffin cubes with vanilla or banana yogurt and fresh fruit, and top with chopped nuts or homemade granola to make breakfast parfaits. Make these in wide-mouth mason pint or half-pint jars and you can throw them in a lunchbox and take them on the go!
Or serve a slice of banana bread or a split muffin with a scoop of vanilla, chocolate, or chunky monkey ice cream and some hot fudge or mocha sauce for a chocolate chip banana nut bread sundae.
Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread Muffins
Equipment
- 1 standard size loaf pan
Ingredients
- 4 oz unsalted butter ½ cup or 1 stick
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup ripe mashed banana fresh or frozen
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
Fold In:
- ½ cup chopped walnuts lightly toasted for best flavor
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips you can use full size or mini-chips
Instructions
cream butter & sugar
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until softened. You can also use a hand mixer or mix by hand with a sturdy wooden spoon.
- Add the sugar and mix again until the mixture is light and fluffy and no large lumps remain.
add egg & banana
- Crack the eggs individually into a small bowl, mix with a fork, and add one at a time to the creamed butter and sugar.
- Mix well, scraping the bowl down between additions of egg.
- Next, add the cup of mashed banana, and mix well. This should be a relatively thin batter, with a consistency similar to pancake batter.
mix dry ingredients:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Measure the flour into a small mixing bowl.
- Sift the baking soda and salt into the flour, and sift or whisk to mix.
add dry ingredients:
- Add the flour, salt, and leavening mixture to the mixing bowl.
- Pulse the mixer, mixing for a few seconds at a time on a low speed, or gently fold by hand with a spatula.
- Lower the mixer bowl and scrape down the bowl, raise the bowl again, and mix on low speed just until no dry clumps remain.
fold in nuts & chips:
- Add the toasted chopped nuts and chocolate chips to the banana bread batter.
- Mix again gently or fold by hand just until the chocolate chips and the nuts are evenly mixed into the batter.
fill muffin tins or loaf pans:
- Spray your muffin tins or loaf pans with baking spray, or brush them with melted or softened butter and then dust with flour. Alternately, use nonstick baking tins or silicone baking cups or pans.
- Scoop the batter into your prepared pans, dividing evenly to make 12 regular muffins, 6 jumbo muffins, or 24 mini-muffins.
- Alternately, pour the batter into one standard size loaf pan or up to four mini loaf pans.
bake banana bread muffins or loaves:
- Place the pans on a rack in the center of your preheated 350℉ oven.
- Bake muffins 25-30 minutes, or about 45-50 minutes for loaves.
- Test the muffins or loaf with a bamboo or metal skewer towards the end of the baking time. When the muffins are done, only crumbs will cling to the skewer.
- If the tops are still soft or jiggly, bake longer and check when the tops are evenly brown and lightly set. Your baking time will vary (depending on your individual oven and what material your pans are made from).
Notes
Nutrition
More Breakfast, Brunch, and Banana Recipes:
- Frozen Peanut Butter Banana No-Bake Icebox Pie with Chocolate Almond Flour Crust (gluten-free!)
- Mason-Jar Mornings & Meal Prep Instant Oats
- Easy Eggnog Pound Cake
- Date Walnut Whole Grain Muffin Recipe
- Easy Cheesy Pumpkin Muffins with Jalapeno or Herbs
- Homemade Pumpkin Crumpets
- Rum Raisin Bread Pudding with Apples
- Apple Cranberry Walnut Baked Oatmeal
- Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Walnut Biscotti