Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

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Banana bread is one of my favorite specialty breads to make. Yes, it’s special because it’s just so darn delicious and easy to make. Any time I see a few bananas in the pantry that are a little over ripe, I get excited, not because it means my kids are trying to waste food, but because I get to make banana bread. And on really special days, like today, I get crazy and add chocolate chips to make Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

DO I NEED YEAST FOR BANANA BREAD?

Nope. Remember the run on yeast last year because everyone decided to make bread during the pandemic? Well, we could have all just made banana bread and called it a day because it doesn’t need yeast.

WHAT TYPE OF CHOCOLATE CHIPS SHOULD I USE?

The great about this bread is that any type of chocolate will work. Dark chocolate, milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate would be delicious in this bread but it’s best with mini chocolate chips. While I love dark chocolate in just about anything, mini semi-sweet chocolate chips are my go-to for banana bread.

SHORT ON TIME? MAKE MUFFINS.

Banana bread takes a while to bake. Almost an hour of oven time to be exact. Just don’t have that kind of time on your hands? Make muffins. Same batter but divide it into regular or jumbo muffins and you cut down the cooking time by more than half. You can have muffins cooked in about 20 minutes depending on the size.

EXPERT TIPS FOR MAKING CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA BREAD

1. Riper bananas are better! The more ripe your bananas are, the sweeter they’ll be. Make sure your bananas have some brown spots. Yup, those brown spots that the kids won’t eat? They make sure that the banana will mash easily and gives lots of natural sweetness and banana flavor the bread. You want no green on the peel but you don’t want them rotten either.
2. You want to mash the bananas BEFORE adding to the rest of the ingredients. This will ensure that you have bananas throughout the bread with no chunks and it’s the easiest way to properly incorporate the banana flavor.
3. Be careful when measuring your flour. Baking is an exact science and there is no room for your own flair on measurements. If you add too much flour, your bread will be stiff and dry. If you add too little flour, your bread will be too wet. You need to follow the ingredients and measure the flour properly.
4. Don’t overmix the batter. You want a light, fluffy loaf and not a dense, chewy one and that is all in the mixing. When it’s time to add the dry ingredients, step away from the stand mixer and fold the dry ingredients in by hand. It will give you the perfect texture.
5. Don’t rush the baking process. It takes a long time to bake banana bread. We’re talking 55-65 minutes and you can’t shave time off that. Don’t raise the temp on the oven thinking it’s go faster. It doesn’t work that way. Set your oven to 350 and wait. When time is almost up, you can check the bread with a toothpick or sharp knife to see if it’s done. If the toothpick or knife comes out clean (or almost clean – just a crumb or two), it’s done. Not before then.
6. This bread is best the day they are made; however, the remainder of the loaf can be stored tightly-covered at room temperature for up to 2 days, or refrigerated for several days longer.

MORE BREAD RECIPES

Monkey Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting

Easy Amish Cinnamon Bread

Pumpkin Biscuit Loaf

Snickerdoodle Bread

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA BREAD INGREDIENTS

• 3 ripe bananas
• ⅓ cup butter, melted
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• salt, to taste
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup mini chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F
2. In a bowl, add the bananas and mash with the back of a fork until smooth. Add in the melted butter and stir until well combined. This can be done by hand or in a stand mixer.
3. Add the sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda, salt, and flour, and hand stir until the batter is smooth. You basically want to fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
4. Add in the chocolate chips, mix and pour the batter into a greased loaf pan. Top with additional chocolate chips.
5. Bake for 55 minutes to an hour, or until a toothpick or sharp knift comes out clean.
6. Cool completely before serving.