Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

This chocolate chunk banana bread recipe is easy to make and full of delicious chocolate chunks & ripe bananas. Chocolate chunks are larger than regular chocolate chips… so this banana bread is perfect for chocolate lovers! My banana bread recipe creates a fantastic “fusion” of ripe bananas and delicious chocolate.

Sliced Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

Recipe Sections

1. Ingredients
2. Instructions
3. Helpful Tips

Excluding the baking time, this recipe takes me about 10-15 minutes to prepare and clean up. Please be aware that this is an oven-baked banana bread recipe. It is not made with a bread machine.

Key Ingredient – LARGE!! Chocolate Chunks

Ingredients – Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

• 1 1/2 Cups – Mashed Bananas (ripe) – 345 grams – Roughly 3 large bananas but use exactly 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas for the best results
• 1/2 Cup – Vegetable Oil – 115 milliliters – Use a neutral tasting vegetable oil such as corn or canola. Do not use strongly flavored oil or old oil. For more info, see the tips below.
• 2 – Large Eggs – 114 grams – Large eggs (not extra large or jumbo eggs)
• 1 Cup – White Granulated Sugar – 200 grams
• 2 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 240 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder – 4 grams
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 3 grams
• 1 Cup – Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks – 152 grams – 90% of chunks go into the batter and 10% of chunks are placed on top of batter

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.

Chocolate Chunks Being Mixed Into Batter

Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread – Straight From Oven

Instructions – Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Lightly beat eggs.
• Mix the mashed bananas, vegetable oil, eggs and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Stir until completely mixed.
• Mix in the remaining ingredients (except the chocolate chunks). Stir until the batter is fully mixed. FYI – I prefer to use a large spoon to mix the batter. An electric mixer can overmix the batter and this can lead to gummy & rubbery banana breads.
• Mix 90% of the chocolate chunks into the batter. FYI – Save 10% of chunks to sprinkle on top of the batter.
• Pour the batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan. FYI – I like to use baking parchment paper when making this banana bread because the chocolate chunks can be very sticky after baking.
• Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chunks on top of the batter in the bread pan.
• Place bread pan in the oven and bake at 325 F for 65-70 minutes.
• Take bread pan out of the 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. FYI – Do not skip this step as the “cool down” completes the baking process.
• 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.
• Please READ the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common banana bread problems.

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Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread (With Chunks On Top)

Tips – Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

• The tips below are designed to help banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience. This no butter recipe results in a moist banana bread with lots of banana flavor.
• 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.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy Banana Bread Recipes such as walnut banana bread, Greek yogurt banana bread and no butter banana bread.

• Use RIPE bananas for the best results. Ripe bananas are soft and have a yellow peel covered with many small black spots. Hard yellow/green(ish) bananas are too starchy and have much less banana flavor. FYI – A beautiful pure yellow banana (without any spots) is not fully ripe!!
• Using UNRIPE bananas will result in a very bland banana bread (with little banana flavor).
• Optional – If you do not have totally ripe bananas, some people like to add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon when making banana bread (in order to cover up the missing banana flavor).
• To avoid any recipe problems (i.e. the banana bread is too dry or too wet), you should use EXACTLY 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas.
• 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 (versus using some number of whole bananas).

• Use a NEUTRAL-flavored vegetable oil (i.e. canola oil or corn oil) for the best results.
• Strongly flavored oils (such as olive oil & peanut oil) can negatively impact the flavor of banana bread.
• Optional – If you do not have vegetable oil, you can replace it with semi-melted unsalted butter on a 1 to 1 basis.
• 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.

• What are chocolate chunks? Chocolate chunks are small rectangles of chocolate. They are often 3-4 times the size of regular “tear-shaped” chocolate chips. They provide larger “bursts” of chocolate in baked goods (versus regular-sized chocolate chips).
• You can find packaged chocolate chunks (i.e. Nestle Chocolate Chunks) in the baking section of many major supermarkets. You can also find chocolate chunks online. Beyond Nestle, other makers of chocolate chunks include 365 by Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe’s, etc.
• If you need dairy-free chocolate chunks, take a look at the chocolate chunks made by Enjoy Life.
• FYI – Some people like to make their own chocolate chunks by chopping up thin chocolate bars (i.e. Hershey chocolate bars) into various-sized chunks.
• Visitors – What additional ingredients have you added to this recipe to make it more unique or special? Do you add extra chocolate? Chopped-up Halloween candy? Nuts (i.e. pecans or almonds)? Extra spices? Please post your ingredient ideas & suggestions in the comment section below.

• Optional – You can create a chocolate banana nut bread by replacing 50% of the chocolate chunks with chopped walnuts or chopped pecans. Or you can mix all of the chocolate chunks into the batter and then just sprinkle some chopped walnuts or pecans on top of the batter (instead of placing some chocolate chunks on top).
• Optional – You can also create a chocolate chunk & berries banana bread by replacing the 1 cup of chocolate chunks (called for in the recipe) with 1/2 cup of chocolate chunks and 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries or fresh cranberries.
• Optional – You can sprinkle some chocolate chunks on top of the batter before placing the bread pan in the oven. Or you can arrange the chunks into various shapes. I like to add a few simple lines of chunks on top of the batter (see photos above) but you can also arrange the chunks into letters (i.e. H) or numbers (i.e. 4).
• However, please be aware that the chunks on top of the batter may slide about as the crust rises during the baking process.

• Be aware that hot chocolate chunks can “smudge” very easily if touched when extracting the banana bread from a bread pan. Therefore, I like to use baking parchment paper to “lift” the banana bread from the pan (versus using the standard “flip the banana bread upside down” technique in order to get the banana bread out of the pan). Baking parchment paper allows me to avoid touching the top of the banana bread (unlike the flipping upside method of extraction).
• Chocolate can be very sticky after baking!! To prevent your chocolate chunk 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.
• Baking parchment paper is probably the best solution in order to prevent the banana bread from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Unfortunately, you can still have occasional sticking problems when greasing the pan, etc. In my opinion, baking parchment paper has fewer sticking issues versus the other methods. Just be aware that you need to use baking parchment paper (which is specifically designed for the high temperatures involved with baking) and not regular paper!!!

• 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 toothpick (or long 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 2 or 3 minutes. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan will be very hot. After the 2 or 3 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” (i.e. 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 quick bread could come out undercooked. I like to use a hanging oven thermometer to check my oven temperature and ensure the oven has been properly preheated.

• Always try to use relatively FRESH baking soda & powder for the best results. For example, 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 walnut banana bread.
• Store your ingredients (i.e. 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.

• In case, you didn’t see this in the “equipment used to make this recipe” section, this recipe is based on using a standard 9 by 5 bread pan. This means that the interior of the bread pan (not exterior) measures 9 inches in length, 5 inches in width and 2 1/2 inches in depth/height. Of course, Bread Dads are crazy about exact measurements… thus the use of measuring tapes! Ha!
• Please use the suggested 9 x 5 bread pan to make this 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 crust ratios (thus the need for different baking lengths), smaller pans are more likely to overflow, etc.
• My recipes are based on using a metal bread pan and NOT a glass bread pan. Glass bread pans bake faster than metal bread pans. If you use a glass bread pan for my recipes, you are more likely to overbake your banana bread (i.e. burnt crust).
• My recipes are based on using a regular oven and NOT a convection oven. Convection ovens bake faster than regular ovens and require less baking time than what is stated in my recipes.

• Place your banana bread in the middle of your oven. If you place it on the top or bottom racks, the banana bread may be too near the oven’s heating element and bake faster than expected.
• Make sure to level off the ingredients in your measuring spoons & cups. No “mountains” of ingredients in your spoons & cups!! If you add too much of an ingredient, you can have a baking problem. FYI – I like to level the ingredients in my measuring spoons & cups with the back of a butter knife.
• Problem with a sunken or collapsed middle in your banana bread? Then check out my Why Does My Banana Bread Sink In The Middle? page for reasons & potential solutions.
• 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.

• 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).
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a hot oven and bread pan.
• For more delicious banana bread recipes (i.e. cranberry banana bread or blueberry banana bread), please visit Bread Dad’s sections on easy Banana Bread Recipes.

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Reference Sources

1. Wikipedia, Banana
2. Wikipedia, Banana Bread
3. Wikipedia, Chocolate

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