Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Chocolate chip banana bread doesn’t have to be loaded with oil or butter to be moist and flavorful. This banana bread recipe with chocolate chips and toasted walnuts skips the fat and uses buttermilk and plenty of over-ripe bananas for a tender crumb.

This easy banana bread recipe is a lifesaver

Although I buy bananas to eat immediately, it doesn’t always happen as planned, and at least a few turn brown on the counter. My habit is to stick them in the freezer for later.

When I checked yesterday, I had a freezer FULL of frozen overripe bananas.  Twelve of them.  Seriously.  I may have let this go too long…

With that many fruits, a two banana, banana bread isn’t an option. This easy banana bread recipe is loaded with chocolate chips and nuts and uses five bananas. Enough to make a dent in my stash.

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It makes a tasty breakfast, a great post-workout snack, and ideal for sticking in a kids’ lunchbox (especially when your banana bread recipe is loaded with chocolate chips and crunchy toasted nuts.)

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• It uses up all the bananas in my freezer (usually 4 or 5 to make 2 cups of mashed bananas)
• It’s an easy chocolate chip banana bread to make.
• This recipe makes three loaves to share or freeze.
• It’s a healthy banana bread because it’s butter and oil-free.
• The loaves are moist, thanks to the abundance of mashed fruit.
• Kids love this banana bread recipe because it has chocolate chips, but you know it’s a healthier snack than a cookie or cupcake.

Ingredients:

• Spotty Brown Bananas – the softer and riper, the better.
• Eggs – use 4 large eggs or 1 cup of Egg Beaters.
• Sugar – I use granulated sugar.
• Buttermilk – well shaken
• Vanilla Extract
• All Purpose Flour
• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Salt
• Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I used mini chocolate chips)
• Walnuts

Instructions:

1. Combine the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and blend with a hand mixer for 5 minutes until very thick and pale yellow.
2. Place the bananas in a bowl or glass measuring cup and mash them with a fork.
3. Add the bananas, buttermilk and vanilla until they’re well blended.
4. Sift or whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three steps, mixing on low speed (so the flour doesn’t create a dust cloud). Mix just until the dry ingredients are combined, and avoid over-beating.
6. Fold in most of the chocolate chips and toasted walnuts (set aside about ¼ cup of each for garnish).
7. Fill the prepared loaf pans with the banana bread batter. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts.
8. Bake until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes.
9. Cool the chocolate chip banana bread recipe on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then turn out the bread.

Variations

• Use this recipe to make banana chocolate chip muffins instead of loaves. Spray muffin tins with vegetable spray, fill the tins with banana bread batter and garnish with chocolate chips and chopped nuts. Bake muffins for 20-24 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
• Substitute toasted pecans for the walnuts.
• Add two teaspoons of cinnamon to the batter to spice the banana bread.
• Add one cup of sweetened flaked coconut to the chocolate chip banana bread for a tropical flavor and chewy texture.
• Make gluten-free chocolate chip banana bread by substituting a Cup 4 Cup or another 1:1 flour alternative.

Because this recipe makes 3 loaves, you’ve got plenty of options for sharing with family, friends or neighbors or freezing the extras.

How to freeze banana bread:

1. Cool the bread entirely to room temperature.
2. Wrap each loaf tightly in plastic wrap, ensuring it’s completely sealed.
3. Wrap them again in freezer paper and seal them with tape.
4. Label each parcel with the recipe’s name (banana chocolate chip loaf), and be sure to add the date to track how long it’s been in the freezer. It should keep well for three to four months.

FAQ’s

My daughter loves this chocolate chip banana nut bread warmed in the toaster oven with a pat of butter melting on top, while my husband likes to add a spoonful of peanut butter to his. Any way you enjoy it, this is the best banana bread recipe for using up a surplus of overripe fruit.

More recipes using overripe bananas:

• Easy banana cake recipe
• Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream
• Fluffy Almond Flour Banana Pancakes
• Peanut Butter Shake with Banana
• Dirty Banana Drink
• Tropical Green Detox Smoothie
• Banana Bundt Cake
• Guava Banana Rum Daiquiris

More easy banana bread recipes you’ll love

• Moist Brown Sugar Banana Bread
• Best Blueberry Banana Bread
• Coconut-Macadamia Banana Bread
• Crunchy Banana Chip Mini Muffins
• Banana Pumpkin Streusel Quick Bread
• Gluten-Free Banana Coconut Bread

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5 from 4 votes

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

This easy banana bread recipe with chocolate chips and walnuts makes 3 loaves. Great for a large group and it freezes well too.

Author: Lisa Lotts

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword banana bread

Dietary Restrictions Vegetarian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings 24

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 eggs
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 2 cups overripe bananas mashed
• ? cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup miniature chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon flour
• 1 cup walnuts toasted

For topping:

• ¼ cup miniature chocolate chips
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare three 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch loaf pans. Spray with vegetable spray. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the loaf pan and lay it in.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Blend on medium speed for about 5 minutes until thick and light colored. Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla and blend until combined.
• In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir to distribute ingredients.
• Add flour to wet ingredients in three additions, being careful not to over mix the batter.
• In the same bowl you used for the flour, add the chocolate chips. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon flour and mix with your fingers until chocolate chips are dusted with flour. Stir the chips and toasted walnuts into the batter.
• Divide the batter evenly between the three prepared loaf pans. 
• Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown and cake tester comes out clean.
• Divide the remaining chocolate chips and walnuts over the top of the three loaves.
• Cool on a rack for 20 minutes, then turn out the bread — removing the parchment paper. Serve.

NOTES:

Banana bread freezes well. Wrap it in saran wrap, then in freezer paper. Keeps up to two months in the freezer, but if your family knows it’s there — it won’t last.

NUTRITION:

Calories: 218kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 167mg | Potassium: 211mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 85IU | Vitamin C: 1.7mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 1.1mg

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