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Moist Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe

ByNicole Langdon Hours Updated on
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This chocolate chip banana bread recipe is my take on my mom’s family recipe that’s been passed down through generations! It’s super moist and comes together with just 15 minutes of hands-on effort and simple ingredients. We prefer making mini loaves (they’re the perfect size for 2) but you can easily adapt this recipe to make a large loaf, muffins, or mini muffins instead. Enjoy it as a sweet treat with afternoon coffee or tea, or as a decadent breakfast!

Four freshly baked mini loaves of chocolate chip banana bread on a wire rack.

Chocolate chip banana bread has been a staple in my family ever since I can remember. My mom has been making this recipe for years, never failing to have a loaf ready when company is over – especially during the holidays. Her dad had been making it for years before that. And now I’ve been making it for years, using it as a tasty fallback when I fail to eat all the bananas I bought at the grocery store. (It even inspired my avocado muffins recipe, which was my solution to using overripe avocados!)

This simple quick bread recipe has been passed down through generations for one reason: it’s irresistible! And with my mom’s blessing, I’m sharing my take on it. Hint: it involves more banana for an extra delicious, moist texture that’s totally foolproof!

What To Expect

  • Great for: A sweet afternoon snack or decadent breakfast.
  • Ready in: 1.5 to 2 hours (only 15 minutes hands-on time).
  • Makes: 4 mini loaves, or 1 large loaf.
  • Flavor profile: Sweet, chocolatey banana.
  • How to make it: Mash the bananas in a mixing bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well to form the batter, fold in the chocolate chips, bake, then cool before removing from the loaf pan, slicing, and serving.

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Why We Love This Recipe

Chocolate chip banana bread is so nostalgic. It’s a comforting treat when my sweet tooth hits and I love being able to carry on my mom’s tradition of baking loaves for friends and family. I also love that I only need one mixing bowl for the batter – easy cleanup is always a plus!

– nicole

Key Ingredients

Ingredients for chocolate chip banana bread: overripe bananas, sugar, flour, milk chocolate chips, eggs, vegetable oil, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
  • Overripe bananas – This is the key to super moist banana bread! Overripe bananas are easy to mash so their texture blends right into the batter for a smooth consistency, with no banana chunks inside the finished loaf. They have a powerful banana flavor, too, which comes through very well.
  • Vegetable oil – Another key ingredient for achieving moist quick breads. We haven’t experimented with healthier substitutions like applesauce, because if we’re going to put chocolate chips in banana bread, we might as well lean into it and enjoy the extra decadence 🙂
  • Milk chocolate chips – Alex and I almost always prefer milk chocolate over semi-sweet for baked goods. They’re sweeter and in my opinion, taste better alongside the banana flavor of this bread. But you can absolutely use semi-sweet chocolate chips (or even dark chocolate chips) if you prefer.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How To Make Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

You can make chocolate chip banana bread in many forms: large loaves, mini loaves, muffins, or mini muffins. We bake mini loaves most often because it’s the perfect size for the two of us to go through in a few days or a week, and they’re also a great size for gifting around the holidays.

The steps below show how we make mini loaves in our Wilton mini loaf pan, but the process is the same for any other size loaf or muffins. You’ll just need a different pan and different bake times. For more details on baking other types of loaves or muffins, continue onto the Variations section below.

Mashed banana in a blue bowl.

Step 1: Add the bananas to a large mixing bowl and mash thoroughly until smooth. A potato masher or a fork works great for this.

Flour, sugar, eggs, oil, and mashed banana in a blue mixing bowl.

Step 2: Add the remaining ingredients (minus the chocolate chips) to the mixing bowl.

A blue mixing bowl with banana bread batter and a spoon in it.

Step 3: Stir well until just combined, being careful not to overmix the batter.

A blue mixing bowl with chocolate chip banana bread batter in it.

Step 4: Fold in the chocolate chips.

A mini loaf pan with four wells filled with chocolate chip banana bread batter.

Step 5: Grease the bottom of your loaf pan and pour the batter in, filling about half to three-quarters of the way up.

Checking freshly baked banana bread loaves with a toothpick to see if they're done baking.

Step 6: Bake at 350F until a toothpick inserted into the center of the tallest loaf comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes for mini loaves. The loaves should be slightly browned on top when they’re done.

3 mini banana bread loaves in a pan and one loaf on a wire cooling rack.

Step 7: Let the loaves cool in the pan for at least 1 hour. Then, transfer them to a wire rack and cool completely before slicing and serving, or dig right in if you don’t mind not having clean slices.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread: Size & Shape Variations

We like to make mini loaves, but you can easily make chocolate chip banana bread into full size loaves, muffins, or mini muffins! Here are the bake times for different size pans:

  • Standard loaf pan (yields 1) – bake for 1 hour +
  • Muffins (yields 12) – bake for 15 to 20 minutes
  • Mini muffins (yields 36) – bake for 10 to 15 minutes

Disclaimer: It’s been awhile since I made any of these variations, so these baking time suggestions are from my mom’s experience. As soon as we try these other variations we’ll come back with an update on what times worked for our oven!

Expert Tips

  • Greasing loaf pans – Make sure to only grease the bottom of the loaf pan, not the sides. Quick breads need to stick to the sides as they bake so that they become tall and fluffy. If you grease the sides of the pan, the sides of the bread can’t support the middle, and your loaf will sink in the center.
  • Don’t overmix the batter – Overmixing quick breads can yield tough and chewy results. Mix until everything is just combined. It’s perfectly okay if there are some lumps of banana in the batter.
  • Don’t overfill the pan – No matter what type of pan you’re baking in, try to only fill it about halfway to three-quarters of the way up. This will give your banana bread plenty of room to expand without overflowing. (I had to learn this the hard way the first time I made my mom’s recipe on my own).
  • Use bake times as a guide, not a rule – In general, I like to set a timer for about 5 minutes less than a recipe calls for, and then keep an eye on my baked goods from that point on. Check the loaves with a toothpick once you think they look done; chances are they may need another minute or two, but that’s better than overbaking them. The trick to achieving extra moist chocolate chip banana bread is to catch it just as it’s done baking so it doesn’t dry out in the oven.
  • Checking for doneness – Make sure to stick the toothpick all the way into the loaf when checking for doneness. I’ve made this mistake a few times, only to find that a section of my loaf was underdone when I went to slice it!
  • Notes for making muffins or mini muffins – Grease the wells or use liners to ensure the muffins release from the pan. Muffins won’t need as long to cool before you remove them from the pan; we recommend waiting around 30 minutes for muffins, and 10 to 15 minutes for mini muffins.
Slices of freshly baked moist chocolate chip banana bread on a white ceramic serving platter.

Serving Suggestions

Once the banana bread is cool, you can slice it into neat pieces and serve it for breakfast, brunch, dessert, or an afternoon snack with coffee or tea! The chocolate chips make this banana bread an extra sweet treat for indulging in when you’re craving a bakery style bite.

Chocolate chip banana bread is also perfect for the holidays. My mom always has a loaf ready whenever there’s company, whether it’s for Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas – and now I’ve started bringing loaves to my in-laws for the holidays because everyone loves this banana bread so much! Mini loaves and muffins are just the perfect size for sharing with neighbors, teachers, and friends.

FAQs

You can store chocolate chip banana bread at room temperature for up to 5 days. Make sure to let it cool completely before wrapping in aluminum foil. Alternatively, you can cool the loaf completely, slice it, and store it in an airtight container. Note that storing the whole loaf will preserve its freshness and moisture for longer.

Yes! Whenever I make 4 mini loaves, we typically eat one and then freeze the other 3. Let them cool completely, wrap them tightly in foil, and then freeze for up to 3 months. Frozen loaves are a life-saver when we need a quick and easy breakfast option.

Overripe bananas and vegetable oil are the secret to achieving a super moist banana bread texture. Make sure to mash the bananas really well before adding the other ingredients – this will help them blend seamlessly into the batter so you get moisture and banana flavor throughout the loaf.

If your chocolate chips are sinking to the bottom of your banana bread, your batter may be too thin. We had this issue whenever we’d add chocolate chips to my mom’s original family recipe – but when we doubled the amount of banana, the batter became thick enough to hold the chocolate chips. That’s why our recipe is slightly adapted from the original!

A freshly baked mini loaf of chocolate chip banana bread on a wire rack.

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Tell us what you think!

We hope you enjoy this recipe! When you try it out, please leave a review and a star rating in the comments below. Happy cooking! – Nicole and Alex

Loaves of chocolate chip banana bread.

Moist Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe

Nicole & Alex Langdon
This chocolate chip banana bread recipe is my take on my mom's family recipe that's been passed down through generations! It's super moist and comes together with just 15 minutes of hands-on effort and simple ingredients.
5 from 2 votes
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Cool Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 4 mini loaves
Calories 884 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

  • 6 medium bananas preferably overripe
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup milk chocolate chips

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease the bottom of a 4-well nonstick mini loaf pan (like the one linked above in the Equipment field) or 4 individual mini loaf pans.
  • Add the bananas to a large mixing bowl and mash thoroughly until smooth. A potato masher or a fork works great for this.
  • Add the remaining ingredients (minus the chocolate chips) to the mixing bowl and stir to combine. Be careful not to overmix – stir by hand until the ingredients are just combined.
  • Finally, fold in the chocolate chips.
  • Fill the mini loaf pans about half to three-quarters of the way, making sure to evenly distribute the batter so all the loaves are the same size.
  • Bake the mini loaves for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the tallest loaf comes out clean. The loaves should be browned on top when they’re done.
  • Remove the mini loaves from the oven and let them cool in the pan for at least 1 hour. Then, transfer them to a wire cooling rack and cool completely before slicing and serving (or dig right in if you don’t mind not having clean slices)!
One last step:Please consider leaving a review to let us know how it was!

Notes

Greasing the pan: It’s best to grease only the bottom of the pan as quick breads rely on the batter sticking to the sides of the pan to become tall and fluffy.
Don’t overmix: Overmixing the batter will cause your bread to become tough and chewy. This is why we recommend mixing by hand – it’s easier to tell when the batter is just combined, and then stop mixing.
Don’t overfill the pan: As tempting as it may be to fill your loaf pan to the top, that’ll leave you with an overflowing loaf. Make sure to only fill your pan about half way to three-quarters of the way.
Set a shorter timer: It’s always a good idea to set your timer about 5 minutes shy of what the recipe calls for. This way you can check your banana bread with a toothpick for doneness. It’ll likely need the full time, but sometimes ovens run a little hot or cold which can lead to different bake times. Better to check early than too late!
Always check for doneness: Use a toothpick to make sure your banana bread is fully cooked. Stick the toothpick all the way into the loaf and make sure it comes out clean.
Pan selection: This recipe is made for using a mini loaf pan, however you can also use a full sized loaf pan, muffin tin, or mini muffin tin. Please see the post above for baking instructions for these variations!

Nutrition

Serving: 1mini loafCalories: 884kcalCarbohydrates: 133gProtein: 10gFat: 37gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 16gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 82mgSodium: 704mgPotassium: 480mgFiber: 4gSugar: 74gVitamin A: 175IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 102mgIron: 4mg
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If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.

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90% of Nicole’s thoughts are about food. She’s had a passion for cooking (and eating) for as long as she can remember! Growing up, she started cooking with her mom at a young age, learned family recipes from her Italian grandmother, took every opportunity to make cookies (so many bake sales), and always loved going out to restaurants to try new foods.

Nicole currently works part-time as a marketing professional for OmieLife while also working nonstop on The Candid Cooks. As a former mechanical engineer, Nicole has consistently found herself at the intersection of creativity and logical reasoning. She credits not only her passion for photography, design, and writing, but also her problem-solving nature and desire to learn, as the foundation on which The Candid Cooks was built.

Nicole’s hobbies include anything that gets her moving - mainly hiking, skiing, ice skating, and dancing - as well as reading fantasy novels and scrapbooking. Her favorite food is a big plate of nachos, as long as they’re cheesy enough!

5 from 2 votes

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2 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Somehow we always buy bananas and then don’t eat any of them… this is the perfect recipe because it helps us avoid food waste AND enjoy a tasty treat!

    Reply

  2. 5 stars
    We always make mini loaves when going on a road trip or visiting family. It makes for a great snack and everyone always loves a little chocolate chip banana bread!

    Reply