Chocolate Banana Bread – forget Double Chocolate Banana Bread, we are making Triple Chocolate Banana Bread! Deliciously decadent and easy to make, it’s so good you’re going to start buying extra bananas to ripen just so you can make this!
How to Make Chocolate Banana Bread
Double Chocolate Banana Bread has loads of cocoa, filled with chocolate chips, and drizzled with a chocolate topping. Bananas are great in sweets like banana cookies and of course this recipe takes chocolate chip banana bread to a whole new level.
Quick breads (such as banana bread or muffins) are breads that don’t require yeast and there are a few simple tips that will ensure you get great results every time!
- Do not overmix. Over mixing the batter will make your bread dense and chewy. Fold the wet/dry mixtures by hand just until combined.
- Grease and flour your pan (and double check you’re using the correct sized pan asked for in the recipe).
- Bake quick breads on the middle rack of your oven.
- Insert a toothpick in the middle about 10 minutes before you expect the bread to be done to test for doneness. Overbaking will cause a dry loaf.
- Quick breads can be frozen up to 3 months in a freezer bag or sealed container. (If desired, glaze once defrosted)
Chocolate Banana Bread Ingredients
This recipe contains Half and Half. Half & half is a dairy product sold in most North American supermarkets. It is made up of half cream and half whole milk and will be found in the dairy case. You can generally substitute any light cream in its place (approximately 10-12% MF) or create your own mixture using heavy cream and milk.
My Triple Chocolate Banana Bread recipe also uses regular cocoa powder, not Dutch-processed cocoa powder. There is a difference between the two, Dutch-processed is not acidic and doesn’t react with the ingredients the same way as regular cocoa.
Last Minute Tips
Be sure to check your chocolate banana bread at 45-50 minutes to make sure it doesn’t over bake! If you aren’t freezing your banana bread, you’ll want to store it sealed in the refrigerator. If you prefer nuts in your chocolate banana bread, nuts (such as walnuts) can be substituted for the chocolate chips in this recipe.
More Banana Recipes You’ll Love
- The Best Banana Cake – Reader favorite! An easy banana cake topped with cream cheese topping.
- Homemade Banana Pudding – Perfect for potlucks, this pudding is best made ahead of time.
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Bread – So moist, perfect to use up garden zucchini!
- Easy Banana Bread Recipe – EASY! This is one of the quickest banana bread recipes!
- Banana Pancakes – Family favorite
- Chocolate Banana Cake – Ready in 40 minutes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup butter
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 4 small bananas mashed, approx. 1 ⅓ cups
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Topping
- ¼ cup half and half or light cream
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease & flour a 9×5 loaf pan.
- Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy. Stir in eggs and bananas. Add banana mixture and chocolate chips to flour mixture. Stir just until combined.
- Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Topping:
- Heat half & half and brown sugar over medium heat until brown sugar has dissolved and tiny bubbles start to form on the edges. Stir in vanilla and butter until melted and turn off heat. Add chocolate chips and do not stir, let sit 2-3 minutes.
- Whisk chocolate chips until smooth. Cool completely and drizzle over bread.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Snack
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
REPIN this Best Banana Bread Recipe
Adapted from allrecipes
More great ways to enjoy ripe bananas:
Just made the triple chocolate banana loaf and turned out awesome. I know my son in law is going to love it. Great recipe. Tks
You’re welcome Wendy! Enjoy!
If I can’t find regular cocoa powder, will Dutch processed still work? Thanks! Looks delicious!
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. This swap can be a bit tricky as there is a chance the bread my not rise as dutch process is more neutral and doesn’t react with the baking soda the same way. If you do try it, I’d love to hear how it works out for you.
Can this be made with a butter substitute, I.e., coconut oil, or vegetable oil?
Thank you.
I have only made the recipe as written so I can’t say for sure if it would work.
I’m looking at trying your chocolate banana bread but the topping says half and half, what is half and half.? Thankyou
Half and half is found in most North American grocery stores near the cream. It is a dairy product consisting of half cream + half milk. Any light cream should work in its place.
Just made. The chocolate topping was shiny and smooth but too thick to drizzle so I added about 3T more of the half and half. Waiting for dinner to finish, but pretty sure I’m going to have to slice into bread : )
Hello. I want to know what do you mean by half & half? Half and half of what? Please reply. Thank you.
Half and Half is a light cream sold in most North American supermarkets usually made of half cream and half milk. You can substitute light cream.
Very good – doesn’t taste anything like bananas…we ate it hot from the over in bowls with ice cream and the sauce. The sauce was very runny (not like pic) but good.
Oh my goodness! The photo alone has sucked me in and I can’t wait to try it. Chocolate is my downfall! Going to have to wait until the temp outside goes down. Right now the thought of firing up that oven is giving me a hot flash lol!! Definitely pinning for later though and sharing your link. Thanks!
Do you let the bread coolas well before drizzling the topping?
Yes I let the bread cool so the topping doesn’t melt into it.
Do the comments in the write up mean that we should use Dutch Chocolate instead of cocoa powder?
This recipe does not use dutch processed cocoa powder.
I used regular yellow bananas because I did not know it called for dark ripe bananas until after the bread was in the oven. It came out okay, but the banana flavor is not as strong as I would like. I taste lots of chocolate.
baking any banana brad, you always want to use VERY RIPE, with dark spots that u wouldnt normally et raw, but theyre great 4 baking!! capisci??
Just made this and looked great, until I went back into the kitchen and the middle caved in (crying now)!!
I dont do well with from scratch recipes…. Not sure what went wrong…
Oh no, how disappointing! There are a few different things that could cause your bread to sink in the middle.
Ensure that you have used the amounts of baking powder/soda called for in the recipe.
Ensure that you don’t have excess moisture in your bread (while the recipe calls for 4 small bananas, you might be better to go by the measurement 1 ⅓ cups.
Ingredients should be at room temperature.
Hopefully some of these tips help!
Anyway to adapt this for Type 2 diabetics? :)
I don’t follow a diabetic lifestyle so I’m not sure the best way to adapt this recipe. Hopefully someone else has some suggestions!
can I use milk instead? I don’t have half and half or evaporated milk
This looks amazing, Holly!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
I’m going to try it with evaporated milk (because that’s what I have on hand) and as muffins to reduce the baking time. (That means I can eat them sooner!)
Thanks, again. Pinning!
Thank you for sharing!
Made these today as muffins, doubled the recipe, baked for 20 minutes and they are wonderful! I also added 1T. vanilla and cinnamon, came out delicious! Will bake these again and again :)
Making them today – added walnuts and vanilla – hoping for the best…they smell amazing!
On the brown sugar…..light brow sugar or dark brown sugar? I have dark brown sugar but didn’t want to make until I was sure which to use. Thanks….this looks absolutely delicious!!
Either will work in this recipe. I used dark because its usually what I have on hand.
There are wheat allergies in my family. Can oat flour be used for this recipe? What adjustments would I need to make?
I have never cooked with oat flour so I can’t say for sure.
Neither have I. I’m new into the baking substitutions ring. Have you ever used spelt flour? Different articles I’ve read recently say that it’s closer to wheat flour.
I haven’t but hopefully someone here will have some advice!
Thanks for this recipe! I made this a few days ago and it was phenomenal. To be honest, I didn’t add the topping because I usually like my cake, or bread, plain but the flavor was absolutely fabulous, nevertheless. My simple variation, which really worked out perfectly, was: I only used 1/4 cup (light) butter instead of 1/2 cup and substituted the other 1/4 with a whole cup of plain low fat yogurt. The bread was so moist and delicate, loaded with choco flavor! This is definitely a keeper!
I made this yesterday and it is delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe!