Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe
We are gathered here today because of your love for my eggless banana bread, my double chocolate banana muffins, and my chocolate CHIP banana muffins. We all have ripe bananas, and we all enjoy new ways to put them to use! Every family needs a great go-to chocolate chip banana bread recipe, and this one is ours. It’s special because it contains honey, which keeps the bread super moist and sweet. This recipe is my Mom’s banana read recipe, and the floral notes from the honey is what makes it extra special. You might recognize the honey addition from my chocolate chip zucchini bread recipe. It really makes breads so special!
I’m happy to include metric weights in this recipe, because I want it to come out perfect for you. Seriously, just try this recipe once, and it will become your family’s new classic banana bread! While I typically make small batch desserts for two, this is a full size loaf of banana bread in a standard bread loaf pan. The perfect pan to make this chocolate banana bread is this 9" loaf pan. As a side note, I make small batch brownies for two in a loaf pan, if you’re here for small loaf pan desserts for two.
Ingredients for chocolate chip banana bread:
unsalted butter (butter is better for banana bread than oil; I will die for this statement) granulated sugar honey eggs mashed bananas (the browner, the better) all-purpose flour wheat germ (totally optional, just extra fiber) baking soda chopped pecans (or your favorite nut instead) chocolate chips (the more, the better)
How to make chocolate chip banana bread:
I stand by my comment that softened butter makes the best banana bread. While many recipes call for oil to make the bread super soft, butter has a better flavor. Plus, the bread will be equally soft when made with butter when it’s at room temperature. The only slightly annoying thing is that because we’re using butter, we need to use a hand mixer to incorporate the butter and sugar and honey together. Using a hand mixer incorporates air into the butter and makes for a very fluffy banana bread. The coarse crystals of granulated sugar puncture the butter and help create the airiness, also. Baking is a science, did you know? If you don’t have a hand mixer, you can absolutely do this by hand with some strong wrist action. But, if you’re looking for a hand mixer, I happen to love that this one comes with its own carrying case for the beaters. I’ve had it for over 10 years, and it gets plenty of use but still works great!
How to keep banana bread moist:
After beating the butter and sugar together, add the honey, eggs, mashed bananas, and blend. Sprinkle the flour, optional wheat germ, baking soda and chopped nuts (we love pecans) and chocolate chips on top, and stir everything in. As the chocolate chip banana bread bakes for a little over an hour, it will puff up into a large dome with a beautiful crack down the center. Before removing it from the oven, be sure to insert a toothpick about half way into the loaf and check for wet batter. This banana bread keeps tightly wrapped on the counter for 2 days, or in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Cold banana bread will need to be warmed up a bit to soften it because of the butter. One final note: please don’t feed this banana bread to babies, as it contains honey. Check out all of my baby food recipes here.
One tip with measuring honey is to spray the measuring cup with nonstick spray before pouring it in. Then, it slides out easily!
Aluminum Bread Pan, 9 Inches
