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

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

This chocolate chip walnut banana bread recipe should take you roughly 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.

Recipe Sections

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Helpful Tips

Slices of Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup – Vegetable Oil – 115 milliliters – 1/2 cup equals 8 tablespoons
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 1/2 Cups – Mashed Bananas – 345 grams – Roughly 2 1/2 – 3 large & RIPE bananas
• 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
• 2 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 240 grams
• 1/2 Cup – White Granulated Sugar – 100 grams
• 1/2 Cup – Light Brown Sugar (packed) – 107 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 milliliters
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder – 5 milliliters
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 2.5 milliliters
• 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.

** Subscribe to Bread Dad’s free recipe newsletter **

Walnuts & Chocolate Chips Being Added To Batter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Lightly beat eggs.
• Stir eggs, mashed bananas, vegetable oil and vanilla extract together in a large bowl.
• In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients (except chopped walnuts & chocolate chips) together. This helps to evenly spread out the dry ingredients (i.e. baking soda & sugar). Optional – If you have a whisk, use it to mix the dry ingredients because a whisk is better at breaking up any small flour and brown sugar lumps.
• Pour the mixed dry ingredients (except the chopped walnuts & chocolate chips) into the bowl containing the wet ingredients. Stir with a large spoon 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 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.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. We LOVE to hear from people who have enjoyed our recipes!! Jump to comment section

Other Bread Dad Sections

• Baking Tools – Baking pans, etc.
• Bread Machines – My favorites
• Bread Making Books
• Bread & Dessert Mixes
• Ingredients, Sandwich Books, etc.

Sprinkle Walnuts On Top Of Batter Before Putting In Oven

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.
• 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 with peanut/tree nut allergies.
• Click on our “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.
• If you like bananas & nuts, you might also like to try our Almond Banana Bread, Pecan Banana Bread and Walnut Banana Bread recipes.

• 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. If you don’t have enough mashed bananas to equal the recipe’s called for 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas, you can add a little milk until the combined mashed bananas & milk equals the required 1 1/2 cups. If you are under the 1 1/2 cups, your banana nut bread might be too dry. If you are over the 1 1/2 cups then your banana nut bread might be too moist and come out undercooked. If you have extra mashed bananas (beyond the 1 1/2 cups), you can freeze the extra mashed bananas… and save it for a future Bread Dad banana bread recipe!

• You should use a “neutral” flavored vegetable oil (i.e. canola oil or corn oil) so it does not interfere with the banana & walnut flavors.
• 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 a moister 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 switching out 50% of the walnuts and adding fresh cranberries, fresh blueberries, etc.
• Use FRESH ingredients (i.e. 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.

• This doesn’t happen often but if the top of the banana bread looks too moist or under cooked, 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.
• 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/sticking.
• However, 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 on top of a banana bread is very soft coming out of the oven and will easily smudge when you remove the banana bread from the bread pan. 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.
• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. If the oven has not been properly preheated, this quick bread could come out undercooked. Use a portable oven thermometer to check the interior oven temperature.

• 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.
• 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 have a problem with a banana bread recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (i.e. using the correct oven temperature), using the correct amounts of ingredients (i.e. 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 (i.e. baking soda/powder versus yeast or all purpose flour versus bread flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.
• My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (i.e. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (i.e. 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 (i.e. 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 (i.e. chocolate chip banana bread, vegan banana bread or blueberry banana bread), please visit Bread Dad’s main Banana Bread Recipes section.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. We LOVE to hear from people who have enjoyed our recipes!! Jump to comment section

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 banana nut bread?

You can use a wide variety of nuts to make 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. You can find a variety of easy banana nut bread recipes on Bread Dad including Almond Banana Bread, Pecan Banana Bread and Walnut Banana Bread.

Is banana nut bread healthy?

While most banana nut breads contain lots of fruit 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.

Reference Sources

• California Walnut Board, About Walnuts
• California Walnut Board, How to Buy, Care & Store
• California Walnut Board, Walnut FAQs
• Wikipedia, Banana
• Wikipedia, Banana Bread
• Wikipedia, Chocolate Chip
• Wikipedia, Walnut

Your fantastic comments motivate us to write more easy & delicious recipes. Also beginning bakers learn a ton from your helpful suggestions, tips and amazing recipe variations.

Related Recipes

• Almond Banana Bread
• No Butter Banana Bread
• No Egg Banana Bread
• Pecan Banana Bread
• 2 Banana Bread – Banana bread made with only 2 bananas
• Walnut Banana Bread

Please leave a comment & recipe rating in the comment box below. Thanks!