Banana Chocolate Chip Loaf – my first independent foray in the kitchen – is still on regular rotation in my baking arsenal so many years later. Give it a try! I promise it will become a favorite in your family as well. (This post first published in 2010. Updated 2018).
One slice of this delicious banana chocolate chip loaf quick bread does not really contain 1000 calories. The problem, however, is stopping at one slice.
I first stumbled upon this simple but deliciously comforting recipe when I was taking home economics during summer school. Our assignment was to find a recipe, prepare it, and then share it with the class. I found this banana chocolate chip loaf recipe in the San Jose Mercury food section and it’s been a staple of mine ever since. I can’t recall anyone I’ve ever made this for that didn’t like it. It always puts a smile on my family’s face.
You can make this quick bread as a full size loaf that you slice up or you can use a mini-loaf pan. One recipe will make 8 mini-loaves. One of my favorite ways to eat this banana chocolate chip loaf is with cream cheese as a sweet, quick breakfast. When you make this easy quick bread, be sure to eat some of the bread shortly after it comes out of the oven when the outside is a bit crunchy, and the inside is still warm and oozing with melted chocolate. You will find yourself saying involuntarily: OMG! Yummy.
Be sure to check out my variation of this classic recipe in my Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Roasted Strawberries post. My friend Jane Bonacci of the blog A Heritage Cook liked them so much she featured them for her weekly Chocolate Mondays post!
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Banana Chocolate Chip Loaf
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup butter 1 stick, softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 1 cup mashed bananas 3 small bananas or 2 large
- 6 oz chocolate chips about ¾ cup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl (I use a fork to combine – kind of a cheater’s sift).
- In large bowl, cream the softened butter and sugar together by hand or with an electric mixer or stand mixer. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat it all together briskly again by hand with a whisk or with an electric hand mixer.
- To the butter mixture, add the flour mixture alternately with the bananas, starting and ending with the flour. Then mix in the chocolate chips.
- Pour into a large, greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 – 55 minutes.
- Or you can make mini loaves by decreasing the bake time to 25 or 30 minutes. They’re done when either a toothpick comes out clean (except for chocolate) or they are light brown on the top.
Jane Saunders
i love the single serve idea for these – great for a lunchbox treat.
Beth Lee
Yes exactly!
Wilhelmina Wessel
These little loaves look so tasty!
Beth Lee
Honestly – been making them since middle school and they never disappoint!!
Little Cooking Tips
SO good! Banana bread is a relatively new thing here, and we find it amazing, especially when it contains chocolate chips:) Panos already sent this to his foodie colleagues at the office and so will I:)
Also ,we have never tried banana bread & cream cheese, and are really looking fwd to see how this combo tastes like!:)
Great work Beth!
xoxoxo
Beth Lee
Yay – so glad you are discovering banana bread. I find it to be a very comforting and soul satisfying treat. And trust me, the cream cheese on the chocolate banana bread is SO GOOD! (not necessarily for your waistline, but your tastebuds will thank you!)
Hannah
Bananas and chocolate belong together! This is truly a loaf of comfort. Thank you for sharing, Beth!
Beth Lee
Yes it certainly is. I was in Starbucks this morning and they had a pile of over-ripe bananas and I nearly asked if I could buy 3 of them so I could make another loaf!
Rita
Yumm. I really like the idea of using mini loaf pans. I’ve a cranberry pecan loaf that I want to try in smaller pans (to give a gifts). What’s the dimension of your large loaf pan vs smaller ones? Looks like the baking time is almost half.
Beth Lee
The loaf cavities themselves are about 2.5 X 3.5 and the entire pan is about 14 X 9.5. I love it though depending on the gift situation, you might want slightly larger loaves.
Georgia Bibeau
I’m pretty sure I made this one back-in-the-day also. Thank you so much for bringing it back!! Hubby has been craving home-baked chocolate lately (tho I ultimately eat most of it) and this is a great choice. I know he’ll love it. Thanks again for sharing it.
Beth Lee
So good to hear from you my friend. This recipe just always makes me happy and we can all use plenty of that right? Sending warm hugs your way.
Laura
I like spreading cream cheese on my warm banana bread, too! So yummy!
Beth Lee
Great minds and great palates …
Julie M.
Oh how I love banana bread! Add in chocolate chips and it’s even better. Your loaves are perfect. I have a ton of bananas in my freezer right now that are just asking to be made into this. Thanks for sharing!
Kim @ Cheap Chic Home
I’m stopping in from SITS. This recipe looks fantastic — I have a banana muffin recipe that I toss choc. chips into, that’s pretty good, too :).
sarene
This is a timeless classic recipe, loved by all. Whenever I put chocolate chips in any banana bread recipe I think of you:)
Sharon Vinick
Boy, I’ve eaten these many times, but I sure feel like going home and making a batch now!