Use up those overripe bananas and make this irresistibly moist easy chocolate chip banana bread. You won't want to try any other recipe after you've made this banana bread recipe!
Ingredients to make your banana bread
What I love about making this chocolate chip banana bread is that there are only a few basic ingredients you need: butter, ripe bananas, eggs, plain yogurt, sugar, salt, flour, baking soda, and chocolate chips.
You can substitute the yogurt with sour cream, if that's all you have available. I prefer to use Greek yogurt as it gives the best results, but you can also use any other plain yogurt.
How to quickly ripen bananas
Sometimes you want banana bread when you don't have any ripe bananas around. Luckily, you can quickly "ripen" your bananas quickly.
One thing I like to do is cook my bananas. You can do this in the oven, or in the microwave.
- For the oven: Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Place your unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes. Allow it to cool before peeling.
- For the microwave: Peel your bananas and slice. Microwave for 5 - 6 minutes, stirring and lightly mashing halfway through.
The oven method works the best, but I frequently use the microwave method for the sake of speed, it also allows me to melt the butter as I soften and quick ripen the bananas.
Baking tips
When I make banana bread, I typically grease and flour my loaf pan. It is usually all I need to make sure my bread comes out. If you ever find you have any problem getting your bread out, I recommend using parchment paper. I cut two strips, one just slightly thinner than the narrow end and one slightly thinner than the wider end. Cut them a little longer so they overhang a little for easy lift.
Do not be tempted to overmix your batter. For tender moist bread, make sure you just gently fold in the flour until it is just incorporated. lumps are okay.
Lightly toss the chocolate chips in flour to help prevent them from sinking all to the bottom.
How to get super moist banana bread
It's all about ratios and how we use the ingredients.
- Make sure you are measuring your flour correctly. Fluff or sift your flour, then spoon and sweep your flour into the measuring cup. The biggest culprit to dry baked goods is accidentally overmeasuring flour.
- Use melted butter. Not only does the butter bring added flavor to your bread it breaks down the sugar and also helps to hydrate the flour.
- Retain more moisture in your bread by using yogurt. The yogurt not only adds tenderness due to its enzymes, but it also helps to lock in moisture into your baked goods.
Customizing your bread
There are so many ways to customize your banana bread. Just experimenting with the chips alone can give you a ton of flavor possibilities.
- You can use espresso chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or white chocolate chips.
- You can chop your favorite chocolate bar instead.
- You can add in a variety of roasted or candied nuts, or dried fruit.
- You can swirl in Nutella or cream cheese, or even peanut butter.
Making Muffins
If you want to switch things up, instead of making loaves of chocolate chip banana bread, you can turn them into muffins! Simply use cupcake liners and a muffin tin. You will also need to reduce the baking time to roughly 16 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a crumb or two attached to it.
Storage tips
Wrap your bread up tightly in plastic wrap when you leave it on the counter. I prefer to also keep it inside an airtight container for maximum freshness.
You can also freeze your chocolate chip banana bread! Keep it tightly wrapped and in an airtight container. It should last up to a month in the freezer. Thaw it in the refrigerator overnight, then bring to room temperature.
I also recommend slicing the loaf before you freeze it if you want to be able to take out just a few slices at a time.
More banana bread recipes
If you loved this chocolate chip banana bread, you might also love my other banana bread recipes. This cinnamon banana bread is a personal favorite, as is this brown butter banana bread. My healthy banana bread gets made into muffins often in my house. You can use any of these recipes to make my banana bread waffles.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 4 large bananas mashed
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ⅓ cup plain yogurt room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour plus extra for chocolate chips
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ¼ cup chocolate chips divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan.
- Melt your butter and beat in the mashed bananas, eggs, yogurt, and sugar.
- Mix together the salt, flour, and baking soda in a small bowl.
- Stir in the flour mixture into the banana mixture and stir until just combined.
- Lightly toss 1 cup of the chocolate chips with a sprinkling of flour, then gently fold into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan, then top with the remaining chocolate chips.
- Bake for about 60 - 65 minutes, loosely covering with aluminum foil after about 45 minutes. The bread is finished when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just a crumb or two sticking to it.
- Allow to cool before removing from the loaf pan.
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