This homemade chocolate banana bread recipe is great for breakfast or a healthy dessert, and it’s so easy to make!
The best chocolate banana bread
One taste of this extra chocolaty recipe, and you will seriously feel like you are eating actual chocolate cake.
And yet it is secretly loaded with nutrition at the same time.
To cut back on calories without sacrificing taste or texture, I’ve packed a full two cups of mashed banana into the decadently rich dark chocolate banana bread.
The moisture and sweetness from the added banana makes the recipe so soft and delicious that guests swear it absolutely must be full of fat and sugar.
But it’s not at all!
You may also like this Vegan Lemon Bread
Healthy chocolate banana loaf
The chocolate banana recipe can be low fat, high fiber, egg free, gluten free, oil free, completely vegan, and refined sugar free.
It makes a great gift, and leftover slices can also be frozen for a rainy day when you need some instant chocolate comfort food.
What could be more deliciously comforting than moist homemade double chocolate banana bread, ready whenever you want it?
I decided to add a handful of extra chocolate chips to the top this time, both for presentation and because there’s absolutely no such thing as too much chocolate.
Try it for breakfast with an Avocado Smoothie or Tofu Scramble
Five new banana bread flavor ideas
Chocolate Peanut Butter: Add a third cup of softened peanut butter to the batter and omit the fourth cup of oil in the recipe below.
Mocha Chocolate Chip: Stir half a teaspoon of instant coffee granules into the banana bread batter. Taste, then stir in additional coffee if you want a stronger flavor.
Coconut Chocolate: Add up to half a cup of shredded coconut to the mixture. You can also add a fourth teaspoon of coconut extract if you want. Sprinkle more coconut on top right before the chocolate loaf goes into the oven.
Nutella Banana Bread: Instead of the oil, use a third cup of either store bought chocolate hazelnut spread or this Homemade Nutella Recipe. For a fun and crunchy texture boost, you can also throw in up to half a cup of crushed toasted hazelnuts.
German Chocolate Bread: Just before baking, sprinkle finely chopped pecans, mini chocolate chips, and toasted coconut over the top of the chocolate banana bread loaf.
Recipe ingredients
Here’s what you need to make the chocolate bread: ripe bananas, unsweetened cocoa powder, pure vanilla extract, baking powder, sweetener, salt, baking soda, white or apple cider vinegar, and oil or milk of choice.
Optional add-in ideas include a handful of chopped walnuts, almonds, or pecans, diced dried dates, half a teaspoon of cinnamon, or the aforementioned chocolate chips to turn it into triple chocolate banana bread.
I love using coconut oil. However, if you want an oil free recipe, you can easily substitute additional banana, plain or Greek yogurt, sour cream, milk of choice, or even almond butter or peanut butter instead.
Spelt flour, white all purpose flour, oat flour, or gluten free flour baking mixes like Bobs Red Mill work in the recipe. I do not recommend coconut flour here, because it is much too dry.
I have not tried the bread with almond flour so cannot recommend it in this loaf. However, the almond flour banana bread mentioned in the recipe below is wonderful. I am hoping to adapt that one into a chocolate version in the near future. Stay tuned!
Readers also love these Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
How to make chocolate banana bread
The recipe could not be easier, and there’s no stand mixer or blender required.
You simply combine the banana bread ingredients, spread the batter into a pan, and add chocolate chips on top if you wish. Bake in the oven, then slice and enjoy.
It tastes even better the next day!
Step One: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan or line it with parchment paper. Set the prepared baking pan aside.
Step Two: Whisk the mashed banana, sweetener, pure vanilla extract, vinegar, and oil or milk of choice in a large mixing bowl.
Step Three: Stir the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and optional mini chocolate chips together. I like to use a separate bowl to ensure the most even mixing, but you honestly can make a one bowl banana bread if you prefer.
Step Four: Combine the wet ingredients and dry ingredients until just evenly mixed. Then spread the dough evenly into the loaf pan.
For presentation, I sprinkle more chocolate chips on top and press down into the top of the chocolate loaf cake.
Step Five: Place the pan on the oven’s center rack, and bake for 45 minutes. Turn off the oven but do not open the door at all. Let the chocolate banana bread sit an additional 10 minutes in the closed oven.
Step Six: Remove from the oven. Mine is always done after this time.
Depending on the elevation and climate where you live and if your oven is calibrated or not, yours might still look under-baked. If this is the case, turn the oven back on and continue to cook until a toothpick inserted into the center of the banana loaf comes out mostly clean.
Step Seven: Let the banana dessert cool before loosely covering it, leaving a space for air and moisture to escape. If you can wait, I highly recommend letting it sit overnight, either on the counter or in the refrigerator, because the taste and texture are ten times better the next day.
Also try this Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Storage tips
Leftover banana bread is fine to leave out overnight on the counter. Cover the bread, making sure to leave a small opening for air to escape, because there is a big difference between super moist and gummy.
Due to the perishable ingredients, it is best to store leftovers in the fridge after a day. Just like traditional banana bread, this recipe should last about four to five days.
If you still have leftover chocolate banana bread after this time, slice and freeze the loaf for up to three months in a covered container. Place a piece of parchment between layers so the slices do not stick together.
The best way to thaw frozen banana bread is to transfer the container to the refrigerator the night before. In the morning, remove the chocolate slices and heat them in the microwave or a skillet or in the oven.
More Banana Bread Recipes
Chocolate banana bread recipe video
Above, watch the helpful step by step video.
Chocolate Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups mashed banana
- 2 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/4 cup oil or milk of choice
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup or honey
- 1 3/4 cup flour (or make Almond Flour Banana Bread)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp Dutch cocoa powder or additional unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- *This recipe works well with white, spelt, oat, or Bob's gluten free flour.To make the chocolate banana bread, first preheat your oven to 350 F. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan. Stir all ingredients until just evenly combined. Spread evenly into the loaf pan. If desired, sprinkle more chocolate chips on top and press down. Bake 45 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave an additional 10 minutes in the closed oven before checking for doneness with a toothpick. Let cool, then very loosely cover or refrigerate overnight before slicing and serving if you can wait, because the taste and texture are even better the next day.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
Healthy chocolate recipes
Yum!
I halved the recipe and made 8 muffins last night. I used milk instead of oil, and white flour. Its not bad, but I will try it with the oil next time. Katie is right that this recipe is so much better the next day! I’m definitely making this again!
I love this recipe. The first time I made this I made it just as recipe states with milk, no oil. It was very good not at all dry. The second time I didn’t have a full 2 cups of banana so I used greek yogurt to make the full 2 cups. This substitution worked very well, the taste was good and texture was a little more dense.
I will definitely make again.
Wow, this is delicious! So soft and moist and chocolatey, and so easy to make. I’m definitely coming back to this recipe!
Hi Katie, Will it hurt anything to use a hand mixer! I’m not fond of chunks of banana (even though it’s banana bread) 😉 I’m just wondering if it would dry out the bread to use a mixer.
Hi Sherry, you can blend the banana before adding it to everything else. This way the banana is fully mashed but the flour mixture doesn’t get overmixed.
This is my absolute favorite Chocolate Covered Katie recipe. It tastes just like a dense, fudge slice of chocolate cake, but it’s only 125 calories a slice. I’ve lost track of how many times people have asked for the recipe. I keep slices in the freezer, and take a handful out when I’m running low. No need to feel deprived of chocolate or a dessert-fix with this recipe. I keep a stash of over-ripe bananas on hand in the freezer so I never run out.
Hi Katie, this looks delicious! Thanks for posting! I would love to make this but I’m doing keto, so I imagine it’s the bananas being the major carbohydrate contributor right? So my question is, have you tried this recipe with a low-carb filler instead of bananas?
Also is there a set of filters I could use for your emails so I only get keto recipes … very low carb?
Thanks again for a great looking recipe, -Russ
Hi Russell, we are working on a keto chocolate loaf recipe but do not have one yet. At the moment, the closest thing we have would be this chocolate keto cake: https://lett-trim.today/keto-cake-recipe/%3C/a%3E%3Cbr /> We just changed your email to go on the keto list, so now you should only get our emails for recipes with low carb options 🙂
This looks delicious. My family needs lower sodium options. Would it be okay to omit the salt completely?
We don’t recommend it for best taste, as salt-free baked goods will taste flat and not chocolatey. However if you are used to salt-free baking then you might not mind it!
Where are the measurements for the ingredients?
They are included in this post, in the recipe box 🙂
I just made this. There’s no way it would last overnight to be saved for the next day. And there was really no need to improve the taste or texture anyway.
It was absolutely delicious! Moist, flavorful, not too sweet.
One thing to note–The printable version is different than the blog recipe. The printable version calls for ⅔ cup maple syrup and ¼ sugar. Maybe Katie’s team can sort that out.
I made the printable version using coconut oil, spelt and oat flour, maple syrup, and coconut sugar (for the ¼ cup sugar). It was moist and delicious! A group ate it and loved it–it does not taste like any sort of deprivation. Way to go Katie on another amazing recipe!
Thank you so much for making it. Your comment made us so happy! As for the difference, over the years readers kept commenting that they were confused about why it called for two different types of sweeteners and some thought it meant that you were supposed to substitute one or the other (which definitely would not work well). So Katie reformulated the recipe to only use the one sweetener, and we just republished the recipe recently. Guessing the printable version needs a few weeks to catch up from the cached version, which still works too! 🙂
We made the vegan no-oil version, and it is spectacular! We had a bit right out of the oven for dessert then again for breakfast. Thank you for this beautiful recipe—satiates the sweet tooth without guilt!
Thank you so much for making it 🙂