A fresh baked loaf of Banana Chocolate Chip Bread will fill your kitchen with love (plus four troubleshooting tips to bake up the perfect loaf).
One of the best smells in life is the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven, especially when it’s as prominent as banana bread. You walk in the kitchen and go “mmm must be banana bread.”
Banana bread reminds me of my mother. I haven’t made it in a long time, but when I used to live at home, she enjoyed it when I baked a loaf.
Today the Holiday Food Party bloggers are celebrating Mom for Mother’s Day. My mom is more of a traditionalist when it comes to recipes, which is why I dedicate this classic Banana Chocolate Chip Bread to her, a recipe I’ve been making since middle school.
I was one of the lucky kids growing up who was forced to take home economics. We learned cooking, sewing, wood shop, and metal shop.
Of course cooking was my favorite (but I did enjoy the hands on work of both wood and metal shop).
I adjusted the original recipe slightly by lowering the baking temperature, using butter instead of shortening, and chocolate chips instead of nuts.
Who knew that something so simple as banana bread can give me trouble? I ended up making it three times before it came out right.
On the bright side, I have some troubleshooting tips for you when making banana bread:
Cover the bread with foil halfway through baking. My bread browned too much on top, making it look almost burnt. It makes you want to pull the bread before 60 minutes is up, causing the middle to be underbaked. The solution? Check on the bread after 30 minutes. If it’s browning a little too much, loosely lay a piece of foil over the top of the loaf pan before baking.
Quickly ripen bananas in the oven. You need to use overripen bananas for banana bread, which means lots of brown spots and absolutely no green.
If you plan ahead a few days, you can buy bananas and let them ripen naturally. I didn’t plan on making this bread three times, so that meant running out to the store for more bananas. And when you buy bananas from the store, they usually aren’t ready for banana bread.
What’s a woman to do? You can put the bananas in a brown bag, trapping in natural gas that speeds up the ripening process, but what if you need to make banana bread the same day?
Easy – you bake them in the oven at 350F for 30 minutes! The peels will turn completely black but the inside becomes soft and slightly roasted.
Cool them a few minutes before peeling and mashing so you don’t burn your fingers.
The bananas do leak juice a little, so line a cookie sheet with foil for easy clean up.
Bake banana bread at 350F, not 375F. My original recipe said to bake at 375F, but the top burnt way before the middle was baked. I turned it down to 350F.
Some say it’s because I used a glass loaf pan vs. a metal loaf pan. I don’t have a metal loaf pan to experiment with, so just bake it at 350F and use the toothpick test to make sure it’s baked.
Don’t be lazy – mash your bananas. Don’t be like me and think the mixer will mash the bananas for you when you add chunks to the batter. Take a few extra minutes and mash them before adding.
I used my potato ricer (Amazon affiliate), but don’t be afraid to relieve some stress and mash them by hand. It’s ok if there are a few little chunks, but you want it as smooth as possible.
More Banana Bread Recipes
- Double Chocolate Banana Bread
- Small Batch Banana Muffins – Same recipe as banana bread but turned into 6 muffins
- Small Batch Chocolate Banana Muffins – Same recipe as chocolate banana bread but turned into 6 muffins
- Dairy Free Gluten Free Banana Bread recipe from Shrimp Salad Circus
Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
A fresh baked loaf of Banana Chocolate Chip Bread will fill your kitchen with love (plus four troubleshooting tips to bake up the perfect loaf).
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup mashed banana (roughly 3 small or 2 large bananas)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a another large bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Beat in the mashed bananas and vanilla.
- Gradually add in the flour mixture (do not overmix). Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Scrape the batter in the pan. Bake 30 minutes then check on it. If it's browning too much, loosely add some foil on top.
- Bake for another 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes then invert on a cooling rack to cool completely.
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Liz says
Great tip on ripening the bananas! Because I need this banana bread ASAP!!!
Linda says
Your comment about what ‘s a moose to do about unripe bananas made me smile. At zoos, keepers frequently use bananas as treats or as a way of giving meds for the moose. Moose love bananas! Something so foreign to their natural diet of browse, etc. But like anything too many bananas aren’t good the moose. So they are just treats.
Think I will use some of my already mashed banana packets I have stashed away in the freezer to make up your recipe. Your pictures are very enticing.
Carla Cardello says
Ha I didn’t know that! Maybe that’s why I love bananas ;)
Anita at Hungry Couple says
I agree that there’s something so homey about the smell of fresh baked banana bread! I’ve always baked at 350 and use only 1 egg but add buttermilk so I haven’t had the problems you did. But I have with other loaves so I’ll keep your tips in mind.
Renee says
What a wonderful bread and tips too. I’m definitely going to remember the ripening bananas in the oven trick. I’m always forgetting to get bananas ahead of time.
Nutmeg Nanny says
Love that tip on how to ripen bananas fast! Plus this bread looks amazing!
Jen @ Jen's Favorite Cookies says
These tips are great! I hate when banana bread doesn’t turn out, because I rarely have over ripe bananas at my house. Although, I have to say, I don’t mind finding some chunks of banana in my bread, so I never mash them first!
Nancy @ gottagetbaked says
Thanks for the tips, girl. I’m sorry you had to bake this bread three times to get it right but we your readers benefited by learning from you. That’s an awesome tip about roasting the bananas in the oven to ripen them. I don’t think there’s anything more comforting than the smell of baking banana bread. I like keeping it classic too so this looks fabulous to me.
Diane {Created by Diane} says
looks so delicious and I love you tip on baking the bananas to hurry them up. Hmmm…I have some bananas they are looking like they need to be baked :)
Lady Lilith says
Yumm. My mom makes an amazing banana cake.
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
My mom is pretty traditional, to, and she and I would love this. And I loooove the banana ripening tip!
Anna (Hidden Ponies) says
Total comfort food – I think I like the smell even better than the taste :)
Shareba @ In Search Of Yummy-ness says
Thank you for sharing that ripening tip, it’s genius! I would never have tried baking the bananas in the peel. Your recipe looks really good, and I LOVE putting chocolate chips in my banana bread. I’m pinning this for later! By the way, I’m hosting a link party on my blog right now and I’d love for you to share this post there. Have a great weekend!
Becca from It's Yummi! says
This is one of those comfort foods that I can eat by the loaf full. I need to incorporate roasted bananas into something soon!
Susan says
Oh how I wish I liked bananas because I could go for a slice of this! Also poor Braden he only gets banana bread when he visits his mom and she makes it!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
mmmmmm! pure comfort-I esp. love the addition of choc chips ;P
Katie @ Sweet Society says
Love love love the banana in the oven trick. I’ve never seen it but I’m definitely using it!! Thanks so much:)
Christy says
I’ve always cooked my banana bread at 325, which takes care of the not cooking the top too fast, and cooking the center thoroughly! (Every recipe I’ve ever had has called for 325!). I also freeze my bananas, I always have plenty of bananas on hand, I just pull them out before I want to make a loaf (I don’t even worry about them defrosting, I’ve never had a bad loaf!!)
Carla says
I’ll have to try that. I know most recipes are at 350F. Love the tip on freezing bananas!
Michelle says
Made this with white chocolate as I had no brown. It worked just as well and tasted yummy! Plus one of the few banana bread recipe s that haven’t deflated and shrunk once out of the oven.
Linda says
I made this and it sort of fell apart. I messed up and didn’t read the directions correctly.
For others who might make the same mistake, i#6 says “Bake 30 minutes then check on it. If it’s browning too much, loosely add some foil on top.” I completely missed step #7 which then goes on to say bake for another 25-30 minutes…..
It might have been better to word this part of the directions to state “Bake for 55 to 60 minutes. At 30 minutes check on it and if it’s browning too much, loosely add some foil on top.”
Anyway, I was still able to eat the banana bread. I just plopped some in a mug and zapped it for several seconds. It’s yummy!
Carla says
Oh bummer! Glad you were able to still salvage it.