Espresso Banana Bread (with Chocolate Chips)

This espresso banana bread recipe is a delicious fusion of espresso coffee, ripe bananas and chocolate chips. It makes a great breakfast banana bread, especially for all of you morning coffee lovers!

Expresso Banana Bread

Recipe Sections

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Helpful Tips

This espresso banana bread recipe generally takes me about 10-15 minutes to prepare and clean up. Please be aware that this is an oven-baked coffee banana bread recipe. It is not made with a bread machine. FYI – You will find a printable & “pinable” recipe lower down on this page.

Mashed Bananas, Oil, Eggs, Sugar & Espresso Powder In Mixing Bowl

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups – Mashed Bananas – 345 grams – Roughly 3 large bananas but use exactly 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas for best results.
• 1/2 Cup – Vegetable Oil – 115 milliliters – Use a neutral flavored oil such as canola or corn oil.
• 2 Large Eggs – 114 grams – Large eggs (not extra large or jumbo eggs).
• 1 Tablespoon – Espresso Powder (leveled tablespoon) – 4 grams – Do not use non-dissolving ground coffee or whole beans. If you want to use liquid espresso, please see the tips section below.
• 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
• 1/2 Cup – Mini Chocolate Chips – 67 grams – Mini chocolate chips spread out better in the batter (versus regular-sized chips). See the tips section for more details.

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.

Espresso Banana Bread Batter in Bread Pan

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Lightly beat eggs.
• Mix bananas, vegetable oil, eggs, espresso powder and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Stir until completely mixed.
• Mix in the remaining ingredients (except chocolate chips). 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.
• Stir mini chocolate chips into the fully mixed batter.
• Pour the finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
• Bake in the oven 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. Use oven mitts. Do not remove the banana bread from the bread pan during this 10 minute cool down period. FYI – This “cool down” step completes the baking process.
• After 10 minutes, remove the banana bread from the bread pan. Place the banana bread on a wire cooling rack in order to completely cool. This final 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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Finished Espresso Banana Bread

Helpful Tips

• The tips below are designed to help banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience.
• 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.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy Banana Bread Recipes such as no butter banana bread, blueberry banana bread and chocolate chip banana bread.

• This recipe is made with espresso powder. It does NOT use non-dissolving espresso grounds or beans. My banana bread recipe uses espresso powder (an instant coffee used for baking) because it dissolves and leaves no hard chunks. Use of non-dissolving ground coffee and/or coffee beans will leave hard bits in the banana bread.
• If you want to make this expresso banana bread recipe with liquid espresso, you need to replace the expresso powder and 1 egg in the recipe with 1/4 cup of liquid espresso. You need to keep the liquid ratios the same when making substitutions. Therefore, the liquid espresso is replacing the liquid of 1 egg (as the recipe calls for 2 eggs if you use espresso powder).
• Be aware that depending on the brand of espresso, the liquid espresso version will generally have a milder coffee taste than the version made with 1 tablespoon of espresso powder.
• What is espresso powder? Espresso powder is a strong instant coffee made from brewed expresso. It is often used to add flavor to coffee-related baked goods.

• Can I use instant coffee instead of expresso powder to make this recipe? Yes but it will not be as good as using espresso powder. You can replace the espresso powder with instant coffee on a 1:1 basis. Be aware that the instant coffee banana bread version often tastes more bitter & less rich than the espresso banana bread version.
• I like to use mini chocolate chips when making this espresso banana bread (because they spread out better within the batter). In contrast, regular-sized chocolate chips tend to sink to the bottom of the batter.
• Visitors – What additional ingredients have you added to this espresso banana bread recipe to make it more unique or special? A specific type of espresso powder? Instant coffee? Extra spices? Chopped nuts? Please post your ingredient ideas & suggestions in the comment section below. Help beginners to make an even better coffee banana bread!

• Use RIPE bananas for the BEST flavor. 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!!
• Do not use UNRIPE bananas or the result will be a very bland banana bread (with little banana flavor).
• Use EXACTLY 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas to avoid potential recipe problems (i.e. 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.
• 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.

• Use a NEUTRAL-flavored vegetable oil (i.e. canola oil or corn oil) for the best results. Strongly flavored oils (such as olive 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.
• Butter vs Oil – If you use butter, your banana bread will benefit from a mild buttery flavor. If you use vegetable oil, your banana bread will lack a buttery flavor but it will be a little moister (because butter is a solid at room temperature whereas vegetable oil is a liquid). In addition, some people like to use vegetable oil (instead of butter) for economic reasons or dietary reasons (i.e. lactose intolerance).

• 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. Use a portable oven thermometer to check the interior oven temperature.

• 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.
• 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 trouble getting banana bread out of a bread pan and/or smudging the top of the banana bread when removing it from a bread pan, you can try using baking parchment paper (lining the interior of the bread pan). Baking parchment paper makes it easy for you to lift the banana bread out of the bread pan (without having to flip the bread pan upside down, etc.).
• Please use the suggested 9 x 5 inch 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.
• Problem with sinking middles? Then check out my Why Does My Banana Bread Sink In The Middle? page for reasons & potential solutions.

• 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 or Quick Bread Recipes.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below. It is always fantastic to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes! Jump to comment section

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Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Banana Bread
• Wikipedia, Coffee
• Wikipedia, Chocolate Chip
• Wikipedia, Espresso

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