This is the best Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe! This easy spin on classic banana bread comes together easily and is such a popular recipe. It is moist, delicious, and only takes about 10 minutes to prepare.
This Chocolate Chip Banana Bread is one of my most popular recipes. It comes together with a few simple ingredients and is fast to make. It is based on the very best easy banana bread recipe. The addition of the chocolate chips just takes it way over the top.
I suggest that when you make this recipe, you make a double batch. Make one to eat right away and one to freeze for later. You’ll thank me when the first batch is inhaled by your crew right away.
This chocolate chip banana bread was so delicious I went through all your steps and it turned out perfect. My friends all loved it will definitely make again!
What makes this the Best Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- It comes together with just a few simple ingredients. Just like the recipe it is based on, you probably already have most of the ingredients to make it in your kitchen.
- The prep time on this recipe is only 10 minutes. Which means that you can easily make this for a perfect afternoon snack for children who love banana bread.
- This banana bread recipe is so moist. It uses yogurt, which keeps it tender, soft, with the perfect exterior crumb.
- It tastes like cake. Like actually like cake.
Banana Bread Ingredients
Here are the ingredients that make up this delicious homemade banana bread. For the full recipe including all measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Flour: Be sure to measure your flour correctly using the steps in this post: How to Measure Flour.
- Baking soda: Helps the bread rise and become light and fluffy. Be sure your baking soda is active by mixing a little bit with some vinegar. It should bubble up right away.
- Salt
- Ripe bananas: Add natural sweetness, moisture, and that classic banana flavor. The whole skin doesn’t need to be brown, but it needs to be decently speckled with brown dots.
- Eggs: Help bind the ingredients together and add structure and richness to the batter.
- Unsalted butter: Butter adds flavor, moisture, and tenderness to the bread. Using unsalted allows you to control the salt content in the recipe. If you use salted butter, skip adding any additional salt.
- Plain yogurt: Keeps the bread extra moist and tender, and its slight tang works perfectly with the sweetness of the bananas and chocolate.
- Sugar: Adds just enough sweetness, not too much.
- Vanilla extract
- Chocolate chips: If you want the top to have a really appealing look, throw a couple of extra chocolate chips on before putting it in the oven.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Whisk Together the Dry Ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
Combine the Wet Ingredients
Stir together mashed banana, melted butter, eggs, yogurt, sugar, and vanilla.
Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients
Stir until just combined, and then stir in the chocolate chips.
Pour into a Bread Pan and Bake
Pour the mixture into a greased bread pan. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out with just a few crumbs. After it comes out of the oven, allow it to cool before slicing.
Tips and Tricks for this Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Use a good loaf pan. They are not all created equal, and some work better than others. Below you can find the bread pan I love. It is a workhorse, and bread comes out perfectly in it.
- Measure your flour properly. This is key in all baking recipes. Make sure that you scoop the flour into the measuring cup and then level it off. If you scoop right from the flour container, you will get too much and you will have a chocolate chip banana bread recipe fail. You can read more about this in this post: How to Measure Flour.
- Make sure that your melted butter has cooled. If you don’t do that, you run the risk of your eggs starting to cook when they get mixed with the hot butter.
- Use baking soda that is still fresh. Baking soda needs to be switched out every six months or so. Test it by adding a little to some vinegar. It should bubble immediately. If not, replace it.
- Test the bread with a toothpick towards the end. Do not insert it directly in the middle of the bread, but slightly off to the side. You want the toothpick to come out clean. If you wait until the top comes out clean, you will risk the edges of the bread being dry. I would rather have a little bit of a gooey top (yummy) than dry sides (yucky). My oven requires 55 minutes for perfect bread.
Substitutions and Variations
- Swap the chocolate chips for something else. You can take out the chocolate chips (or half of them) and replace them with a cup of something else. We’ve made this with blueberries, strawberries, Nutella, and even zucchini. I know a lot of people love nuts in their banana bread, and walnuts or pecans would work as a swap, too.
- Use mini chocolate chips. You eagle eyes will notice that I’m using mini chocolate chips in the video for this post, and the final shot shows big chocolate chips. That’s because we love it both ways! I love how the mini chocolate chips distribute, but I also love how the big ones look. If you use the minis you will still want to use just one cup.
- Swap the yogurt for sour cream. They can be used interchangeably in this recipe, but I do not recommend eliminating the yogurt altogether.
- Use gluten free flour. I haven’t tested this myself, but I have had readers report good results when they replace the flour in this recipe with one-for-one gluten-free flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.
- Make muffins. This recipe is great as muffins. You can follow these instructions: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.
Storing and Freezing
Storing After Baking
This bread recipe should be stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to one week. I have the best results when I don’t store the bread in the pan it was baked in.
Freezing as a Whole Loaf
This bread can be frozen as a whole loaf. Wrap it three times in foil or plastic wrap and then place it in a freezer bag. Store for up to three months in the freezer.
Freezing as Slices
It can also be frozen as slices. Once cooled, slice the bread into 10 equal slices. Place the bread on a wax paper-lined tray and freeze it for about four hours. Transfer the slices to a freezer-safe bag and store in the freezer for up to three months. When ready to eat, the slices will take about 30 minutes at room temperature to thaw.
If you try this recipe or any of my other recipes, leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
The Best Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour (240 grams)
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 very ripe bananas mashed well (See note 1)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled (See note 2). (84.8 grams)
- 2 large eggs at room temperature and lightly whisked
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt room temperature, sour cream also works (56.8 grams)
- 3/4 cup sugar (148.5 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips will work as well (170 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9 by 5 inch bread pan well with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.2 cups all purpose flour, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, cooled butter, eggs, yogurt, sugar, and vanilla.3 very ripe bananas, 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 large eggs at room temperature and lightly whisked, 1/4 cup plain yogurt, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Be careful not to overmix.
- Stir in the chocolate chips until just combined.1 cup milk chocolate chips
- Pour the bread batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out with just a few crumbs.
- Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then remove and allow to cool on a cooling rack for 35 minutes before slicing and enjoying.
Recipe Video
Notes
- You will want to use very ripe bananas for this recipe. That does not mean that the whole skin needs to be brown, but it needs to be decently speckled with brown dots. You’ll know that they are perfect when they mash very easily with a fork. Some recipes suggest that you ripen bananas in your oven, but I don’t recommend that because the bananas won’t sweeten like they do when they naturally ripen. You can read more about freezing ripe bananas here.
- The amount of salt in salted butter can vary a great deal from brand to brand. Using unsalted butter and then adding a specific amount of salt to this recipe allows us to control the amount of salt in the final baked product. If you want to use salted butter in this recipe, don’t add any additional salt to the recipe.
Laura says
Are you saying milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips??
I’ve used both and both are delicious. My personal preference is for milk chocolate chips.
Melissa Shroff says
What about dark chocolate chips? I prefer dark chocolate.
Go for it! It should turn out just fine!
Sue Reuschlien says
Have you tried making muffins instead of bread with this recipe? I know the baking time would be less
Hi Sue! I have a note about this in the post because I knew people would want to know. I think both the baking time and the ingredient ratios would need to change in order or these to work well as muffins. If I develop that recipe, I will be sure to update the post!
peggy says
This looks really good. But I have to say it is more of a “cake” than a bread. I think it’s only classified bread because it’s made in a loaf pan. I make banana bread a lot as did my Mother. True banana bread is not as loose “cake lie” textured as this is. And it uses Crisco instead of butter. . Also it’s done at 400 instead of 350 and in a floured pan. I will definitely be making this. Choc chips and banana together Don’t get much better than this. :-)
The good news is there are lots of great ways to make great recipes. :)
Chandra says
If you only have salted butter will it make a difference.
It will make it a little more salty. The reason for using unsalted butter is so that when you are baking you can control the amount of salt flavor in the final recipe. I can’t tell you exactly how much to cut back on the salt in the recipe because butter types vary. I would suggest cutting it back to 1/4 teaspoon. That said, I wouldn’t let that hold you back from making this.
Ha says
What temp do I bake it on ?
350 degrees
Darlene says
I’ve made this 4 times now within a week & a 1/2 timeframe. 3 were sugar free, 1 of those was with strawberry yogurt, and 1 was regular. I used Chobani non fat Greek yogurt for all of them and added nuts to 2 of them. They ALL came out excellent! Thank you for a great recipe. I’ve shared the bread with a few people and everyone has loved it!
This makes me so happy to hear! And I really appreciate you coming back to tell me the different yogurt types that have worked!
Yvonne says
did you use Stevia in place of the sugar please? I need to make sugar free as I am a diabetic
Kate says
Can I substitute the sugar for stevia to make it sugar free?
Hi Kate, unfortunately I don’t have a lot of experience baking with stevia, so I don’t feel confident answering this. I know that they sell a baking variety, so I would start with that.
Yvonne says
I made this with splenda instead of sugar and sugar free chocolate chips and it turned out delicious. Thank you for the recipe
Thanks for coming back to tell me!
Tory says
I just made this and it was awesome! I was vanilla yogurt and cut the vanilla extract in half.
I’m so happy you liked it Tory!
Juli says
Hi!! I made this recipe this morning & used a mini loaf pan (8 compartments)! Baked at 350 degrees for 15-16 min & used mini chocolate chips!
This is a fantastic recipe! Thank you for sharing!!!
I’m so happy you liked it Juli!
Destiny says
Will using Walnuts or pecans instead of chocolate chips be fine as a substitute? Will any ingredients or measurements change?
I think this recipe will be fine with that simple swap, but I will say that I haven’t tried that. If you do, please come back and let me know.
Ilse says
I added chopped Walnuts to mine and it was delicious. I eyeballed it, but it might have been half a cup. I left the chocolate chips the same amount.
One question, how did you store this once completed cooled? I made two loaves and I want them to last as long as possible. I might actually try freezing one loaf. Have you done that? Did it hold up ok?
Freezing is a great option Ilse! You could actually cut it completely, freeze the pieces on a piece of wax paper all lined out, and then stack them and put them in a sealable container so you can defrost a piece at a time. Just make sure to use a really air tight container. Otherwise, I usually use a clear plastic reusable container.