Oh man, is this Chocolate Banana Bread to die for. This recipe is honestly my favorite banana bread recipe yet.
It whips up in no time at all, using overripe bananas that no one cared about until now, and turns out moist, decadent, and full of melty chocolate chips. You can even throw in some chopped nuts for added flavor and health.
Eat it for breakfast (sinfully) or save it for dessert. Just try not to do both in the same day, like someone I know.
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What Makes this Recipe So Good?
If you're like me, you most likely have an affinity for banana bread because it's tasty, relatively healthy, resourceful (since it uses up yucky bananas too ripe for eating), and CHEAP. Seriously, making banana bread saves us a ton of money on breakfast.
- High quality gluten free all purpose flour containing xanthan gum - I prefer to use Bob's Red Mill 1:1 (the blue bag) or King Arthur Measure for Measure.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder - You can go as fancy as you want here, even with Dutch Process cocoa, but I opted for old faithful & inexpensive Hershey's.
- Overripe bananas. An obvious must. The spottier/browner the bananas the sweeter the banana bread.
- Light brown sugar. This ingredient is always a guarantee it's going to be good, mmkay?
- Half melted butter, half vegetable oil. The butter provides depth of flavor and richness, while the vegetable oil keeps the crumb of the bread super moist. Avoid using coconut oil in this recipe, since it hardens at room temp (between 74-76 F) and can make the bread hard/dry.
- Pure vanilla extract.
- Semisweet or dark chocolate chips. I use Enjoy Life mini chips because of their clean ingredients.
How to Make Chocolate Banana Bread:
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease only the bottom* of a 9x5 loaf pan with butter or a nonstick cooking spray. You could also insert parchment paper and later pull out the bread by the paper. *The reason I grease only the bottom of the loaf pan is so the bread can cling to the sides/have support as it rises. I found that greasing the sides made the bread fall after it baked.
- In a medium-sized bowl, add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until combined.
- In a large-sized bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Add in melted butter and oil; stir until incorporated. Add in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract; stir until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until just combined. Don't over-mix - it's okay to see a few flour clumps at this time.
- Fold in half of the chocolate chips.
6. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle* the remaining half of the chocolate chips over top the batter. *To ensure the toothpick comes out clean and not chocolatey after baking, I intentionally leave a few spots in the middle of the top of the loaf free of chocolate chips. This helps ensure correct doneness and saves you a headache later on - trust me.
7. Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. There may still be some melted chocolate on the toothpick, as long as it's not gooey batter you're good to go.
8. Remove loaf pan from oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Allow to cool at least 15 minutes, or until chocolate chips have firmed back up. To remove the loaf from the pan; run a butter knife around the edges a few times to loosen it and carefully shake it out of the pan and onto the cooling rack. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature. Enjoy within 3 days, or freeze.
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Chocolate Banana Bread - Gluten Free Banana Bread
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Ingredients
- 1 cup high quality gluten free all purpose flour containing xanthan gum I used Bob's Red Mill GF 1:1 (the blue bag)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 large overripe bananas (about 1 ½ cups) mashed
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup vegetable oil avoid coconut oil as it gets hard at room temp
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips I use Enjoy Life
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease only the bottom* of a 9x5 loaf pan with butter or a nonstick cooking spray. You could also insert parchment paper and later pull out the bread by the paper. *The reason I grease only the bottom of the loaf pan is so the bread can cling to the sides/have support as it rises. I found that greasing the sides made the bread fall after it baked.
- In a medium-sized bowl, add GF flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until combined.
- In a large-sized bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Add in melted butter and oil; stir until incorporated. Add in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract; stir until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until just combined. Don't over-mix - it is okay to see a few flour clumps at this time.
- Fold in half of the chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the remaining half of the chocolate chips over top the batter. *To ensure the toothpick comes out clean and not chocolatey after baking, I intentionally leave a few spots in the middle of the top of the loaf free of chocolate chips. This helps ensure correct doneness and saves you a headache later on - trust me.
- Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. There may still be some melted chocolate on the toothpick, as long as it's not gooey batter you're good to go.
- Remove loaf pan from oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Allow to cool at least 15 minutes, or until chocolate chips have firmed back up. To remove the loaf from the pan; run a butter knife around the edges a few times to loosen it and carefully shake it out of the pan and onto the cooling rack. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature. Enjoy within 3 days, or freeze.
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