Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Bread

This chocolate chip walnut banana bread is a delicious combination of ripe bananas, sweet chocolate and crunchy walnuts. It is very easy to make because there is no electric mixer required, fancy frosting, unique ingredients, etc.

Your family will love this simple chocolate chip banana nut bread as a breakfast treat, midday snack or tasty dessert.

Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Bread – Fresh from the Oven

Recipe Sections

1. Ingredients
2. Instructions
3. Helpful Tips

Since this banana bread contains walnuts, please do not serve it to anyone with a nut allergy.

This chocolate chip walnut banana bread recipe takes me about 10-15 minutes to prepare and clean up (excluding the time for baking). Please be aware that this is an oven-baked banana bread recipe. It is not made with a bread machine. You will find a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page.

Slices of Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups – Mashed Bananas – 345 grams – Roughly 2 1/2 – 3 large & RIPE bananas but use a measuring cup (or kitchen scale) for best & most consistent results
• 1/2 Cup – Vegetable Oil – 115 milliliters – Use a neutral flavored oil such as canola or corn oil
• 2 Large Eggs – Not extra large or jumbo eggs
• 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
• 1/2 Cup – White Granulated Sugar – 100 grams
• 1/2 Cup – Light Brown Sugar (packed) – 107 grams
• 2 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 240 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder – 4 grams
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 3 grams
• 3/4 Cup – Chopped Walnuts – 86 grams – 1/2 cup mixed into batter & 1/4 cup sprinkled on top of batter
• 1/2 Cup – Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – 85 grams

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

Equipment Needed – Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, long wooden spoon, 9 by 5 bread pan, oven mitts, silicon spatula, cooling rack and an oven.

Walnuts & Chocolate Chips Being Added To Batter

Sprinkle Walnuts On Top Of Batter Before Putting In Oven

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Lightly beat eggs.
• Stir mashed bananas, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract & sugar together in a large bowl. Stir until fully blended.
• Mix in remaining ingredients (except the chopped walnuts & chocolate chips). Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
• Add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts & all of the chocolate chips to the batter. Save the remaining 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts to add to the top later. Stir until the chopped walnuts & chocolate chips are evenly mixed throughout the batter.
• Pour the finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
• Sprinkle the remaining chopped walnuts (1/4 cup) on top of the batter within the bread pan.
• Bake in the oven for 65-70 minutes at 325 F or until golden brown.
• Take out of oven and let the banana bread cool down in the bread pan for 10 minutes. Do not remove the banana bread from the bread pan during this 10 minute cool down period. Use oven mitts as the bread pan will be very hot coming out of the oven.
• After 10 minutes, remove the banana bread from the bread pan. Place the banana bread on a cooling rack in order to completely cool. This cool down may take 1-2 hours. Gently slide a silicon spatula between the banana bread and the bread pan walls if the banana bread is stuck in the pan.
• Please read Bread Dad’s tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common banana bread problems.

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Helpful Tips – Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Bread

• The tips below are designed to help banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience. This recipe results in a moist chocolate chip banana nut bread.
• Click on this “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• Since this recipe contains walnuts, please make sure that anyone eating this banana bread does not have a peanut/tree nut allergy. Do not serve to anyone who has a potential peanut/tree nut allergy.

• Use RIPE bananas for the best results!! If you use unripe green or hard yellow bananas, your banana bread will come out bland (with little banana flavor). Unripe bananas have more starch and less sugar than ripe bananas. The natural sweetness of ripe bananas works best when making banana bread recipes. Ripe bananas are soft and have small brown & black spots on the exterior of the yellow banana peel.
• Use FRESH walnuts. After you have opened a bag of chopped walnuts, the walnuts can go rancid (bad) quickly due to their high oil content. Once the walnut package has been opened, you should store the chopped walnuts in an airtight container in your refrigerator or freezer. Do not use old walnuts that have been sitting in your pantry in an already opened bag. For more information on walnut food storage, you should read the California Walnut Board article on How to Buy, Care & Store.
• Try to use EXACTLY 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas. This will help you to avoid potential recipe problems (e.g. the banana bread being too dry or too wet.
• Unfortunately, large bananas can vary in size. Therefore, it is safer to measure the exact amount of mashed bananas (with a measuring cup or kitchen scale) when making any banana bread recipes.

• You should use a NEUTRAL flavored vegetable oil (e.g. canola oil or corn oil) so it does not interfere with the banana & walnut flavors. Strong flavored oils (e.g. some olive oils) can negatively impact the flavor of the banana bread.
• Optional – If you do not have vegetable oil or want a more buttery flavored banana nut bread, you can replace the vegetable oil with unsalted butter (but it should be softened in your microwave before using). I prefer to use vegetable oil for this recipe because it seems to result in an extra moist chocolate chip walnut banana bread (as oil stays liquid at room temperature).
• Optional – You can easily make fun & delicious variations of this chocolate chip banana nut bread by replacing 50% of the chopped walnuts with fresh cranberries, fresh blueberries, etc. Or try replacing the chopped walnuts with chopped pecans, the semi-sweet chocolate chips with dark chocolate chips, etc.
• Optional – Or try turning this recipe into delicious Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins.
• Visitors – What additional ingredients have you added to this recipe to make it more unique or special? Different nuts (e.g. pecans)? Ground cinnamon? Dark chocolate? Please post your ingredient ideas & suggestions in the comment section below. Help beginners to make an even better banana nut bread!

• Use FRESH ingredients (e.g. baking soda and flour) for the best results. For example, if you use stale baking soda and/or baking powder, your banana bread will not rise properly and will be too dense. Baking soda & powder is best if used within 6 months of opening the container. Using baking soda from an open container (that has been deodorizing your refrigerator for months) may lead to subpar results. Old & hard baking soda/powder may lead to rising problems and/or leave small bitter clumps in your banana bread.
• Store your ingredients (e.g. flour & sugar) in airtight containers to avoid “funky” flavors being added to your baked goods. Airtight containers also prevent contamination by moisture (in the air), dust, pests, etc. FYI – Flour in an open package will absorb moisture from the air and this can throw off the liquid-to-dry ratios in recipes.
• This recipe uses all purpose flour. Do not use bread flour to make banana breads or they are more likely to turn out dense and/or gummy. Banana bread recipes work best with all purpose flour.
• Do NOT use an electric mixer to mix your ingredients (when combining the wet and dry ingredients). Stick to an old fashioned wooden spoon. An electric mixer can overmix the ingredients and the banana bread will turn out rubbery & gummy.

• This doesn’t happen often but if the top of the banana bread looks too moist or undercooked, you should try the “toothpick test”. Gently push a wooden toothpick or wooden skewer into the top of the bread and see if any batter sticks to the toothpick. If batter is sticking to the toothpick then it hasn’t completely cooked. Place the bread pan back into the still hot oven for another 3 to 5 minutes. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan will be very hot. After the 3 to 5 minutes, remove the bread pan and test the banana bread again with a toothpick.
• Instead of the “toothpick test”, some people like to use a bread thermometer to test if their banana bread is done. Generally, a “quick bread” (e.g. banana bread or pumpkin bread) is done when the internal temperature reaches 200-205 degrees F. Just make sure to measure the temperature in the center of the loaf for the most accurate reading.
• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. If the oven has not been properly preheated, this banana bread could come out undercooked. I like to use a hanging oven thermometer to check my oven temperature and ensure that the oven has been properly preheated.
• Do not skip the 10 minute “cool down” (where the banana nut bread stays in the bread pan after being removed from the oven). This helps to finish the baking process and makes the banana bread easier to remove without breaking.

• Important – To prevent the chocolate chip walnut banana bread from sticking to the bottom of the bread pan, you should consider either “greasing” the bottom of the pan with butter or vegetable oil, using a cooking spray, using a nonstick pan or lining the interior of the bread pan with baking parchment paper. Chocolate chips can be very “sticky” on the bottom of bread pans so you must plan on preventing this problem before baking (or you will have a difficult time removing the banana bread from the bread pan).
• Using baking parchment paper will probably give you the most success in removing the banana bread without it breaking or sticking to the pan.
• Don’t grease the bread pan near the top of the pan. There will be nothing for batter to cling to as it rises. This could cause the bread top to collapse as it rises.

• To give your banana nut bread greater visual appeal, you should sprinkle 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts on top of the batter before placing the bread pan in the oven. The other 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts should be stirred into the batter.
• I would suggest NOT adding chocolate chips on top of the batter unless you are using baking parchment paper to lift the banana bread out of the bread pan. Any chocolate chips on the top of the banana bread will be very soft when coming out of the oven. Hot chocolate chips can easily smudge when you remove the banana bread from the bread pan (wrecking the look of your beautiful chocolate chip walnut banana bread). Baking parchment paper allows you to lift it out of the pan without touching the top of the banana bread.
• Use the suggested 9 x 5 bread pan in order to make this banana nut bread recipe. If you start using different sized pans, there is a greater potential for bread top collapses (potentially less bread pan “wall” support for the quick bread as it rises), different interior batter to exterior bread ratios (thus the need for different baking lengths), smaller pans are more likely to overflow, etc.
• Optional – If you are finding small white clumps of flour in your banana nut breads, you can use a fine mesh strainer or flour sifter to sift your flour (before mixing the flour with the wet ingredients). This “aerates” the flour and breaks up & screens out small flour lumps.

• Do not eliminate the brown sugar from the recipe. Brown sugar adds a richer flavor. In addition, the slight acidity of brown sugar helps to activate the baking soda.
• Long-term storage – If you want to keep your banana bread for more than 1-2 days (depending on your home’s temperature & humidity), you will need to freeze it. Please read Bread Dad’s How To Freeze Banana Bread for more details.
• As you probably know, banana nut breads are a type of “quick bread”. Quick breads use faster rising baking soda and/or baking powder (versus slower rising bread yeast). This often results in a delicious muffin-like “bread” that rises & bakes more quickly than a sandwich-type bread that uses yeast.
• Interesting fact – According to the California Walnut Board, “More than 99% of the walnuts in U.S. are grown in the fertile soils of California’s Central Valley. Internationally, California walnuts supply two-thirds of the world’s walnut trade.”
• Also according to the California Walnut Board, “Tree nuts and peanuts are quite different nutritionally. Walnuts are unique compared to other nuts because they are predominantly composed of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) rather than monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), which are predominant in most other nuts. Walnuts are the only nut that contain a significant amount of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), the plant-based source of omega-3 fatty acids. A one-ounce serving of walnuts provides 18 grams of total fat of which 13 grams are PUFA and 2.5 grams are ALA, as well as other health-promoting nutrients and bioactive components.”

• If you like bananas & nuts, you might also like to try our Almond Banana Bread, Pecan Banana Bread, Sour Cream Banana Nut Bread and Walnut Banana Bread recipes.
• If you have a problem with a banana bread recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (e.g. using the correct oven temperature), using the correct amounts of ingredients (e.g. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measuring cup or accidentally add a tablespoon when a teaspoon is called for), using the correct ingredients (e.g. baking soda/powder versus yeast or all purpose flour versus bread flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.
• Problem with your banana bread sinking in the middle? Then check out my Why Does My Banana Bread Sink In The Middle? page for reasons & potential solutions.
• My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (e.g. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (e.g. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (e.g. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
• Be safe! Nuts can be a potential choking hazard. Do not serve food with nuts to young children.
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a hot oven and bread pan.
• For more banana bread ideas (e.g. chocolate chip banana bread, vegan banana bread or blueberry banana bread), please visit Bread Dad’s main Banana Bread Recipes section.

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Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread – Common Questions & Answers

Do walnuts go well with bananas?

Walnuts go very well with bananas and are a great combination to use in banana bread. The soft “crunch” of the walnuts helps to add a different mouth feel (texture) to regular banana bread. In addition, the earthy & slightly woody taste of walnuts combines well with the sweetness of ripe bananas.

What nuts can you use to make chocolate chip banana nut bread?

People like to use a wide variety of nuts to make chocolate chip banana nut bread. The most commonly used nuts are probably walnuts, pecans, peanuts and almonds. Many banana nut bread recipes use walnuts because they are a softer nut that still adds a nice crunch to the banana bread.

Nevertheless, always be aware that nuts are a potential choking hazard, especially for small children. In addition, always be aware that people may be allergic to nuts when serving food.

Is banana nut bread healthy?

While most banana nut breads contain lots of banana and nuts, they also have lots of sugar and extra calories. Therefore, while banana nut bread is very tasty, it is not a very healthy snack or dessert (in my opinion). Eat (and enjoy!) in moderation.

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Reference Sources

1. California Walnut Board, How to Buy, Care & Store
2. Wikipedia, Banana
3. Wikipedia, Banana Bread
4. Wikipedia, Chocolate Chip
5. Wikipedia, Walnut

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1. Almond Banana Bread
2. No Butter Banana Bread
3. No Egg Banana Bread
4. Pecan Banana Bread
5. Sour Cream Banana Nut Bread
6. Walnut Banana Bread

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