Chocolate Banana Bread - Secretly Healthy Recipe! (2024)

This ultra chocolatey, extra fudgy, homemade chocolate banana bread recipe is super easy to make, and it’s wonderful to serve for breakfast or dessert.

The best chocolate banana bread

One taste of this chocolaty recipe, and you’ll seriously feel like you are eating actual chocolate cake. And yet it is secretly good for you at the same time!

To cut back on calories without sacrificing taste or texture, I’ve packed a full two cups of mashed banana into the decadently rich and dark chocolate banana bread.

The moisture and sweetness from the extra banana makes the recipe so soft and delicious that you’d swear it absolutely must be full of fat and sugar. But it’s not at all!

You may also like this Vegan Lemon Bread

Healthy chocolate banana loaf

The chocolate banana recipe can be low fat, high fiber, egg free, gluten free, oil free, completely vegan, and refined sugar free.

It makes a great gift, and leftover slices can also be frozen for a rainy day when you need some instant chocolate comfort food.

What could be more deliciously comforting than moist homemade double chocolate banana bread, ready whenever you want it?

I decided to add a handful of extra chocolate chips to the top this time, both for presentation and because there’s absolutely no such thing as too much chocolate.

Try it for breakfast with an Avocado Smoothie or Tofu Scramble

Five new flavor ideas

Chocolate Peanut Butter: Add a third cup of softened peanut butter to the batter and omit the fourth cup of oil in the recipe below.

Mocha Chocolate Chip: Stir half a teaspoon of instant coffee granules into the banana bread batter. Taste, then stir in additional coffee if you want a stronger flavor.

Coconut Chocolate: Add up to half a cup of shredded coconut to the mixture. You can also add a fourth teaspoon of coconut extract if you want. Sprinkle more coconut on top right before the chocolate loaf goes into the oven.

Nutella Banana Bread: Instead of the oil, use a third cup of either store bought chocolate hazelnut spread or this Homemade Nutella Recipe. For a fun and crunchy texture boost, you can also throw in up to half a cup of crushed toasted hazelnuts.

German Chocolate Bread: Just before baking, sprinkle finely chopped pecans, mini chocolate chips, and toasted coconut over the top of the chocolate banana bread loaf.

Recipe ingredients

Here’s what you need to make the chocolate bread: ripe bananas, unsweetened cocoa powder, pure vanilla extract, baking powder, sweetener, salt, baking soda, white or apple cider vinegar, and oil or milk of choice.

Optional add-in ideas include a handful of chopped walnuts, almonds, or pecans, diced dried dates, half a teaspoon of cinnamon, or the aforementioned chocolate chips to turn it into triple chocolate banana bread.

I love using coconut oil. But if you want to make it an oil free recipe, you can easily substitute additional banana, plain or Greek yogurt, sour cream, milk of choice, or even almond butter or peanut butter instead.

Spelt flour, white all purpose flour, oat flour, or gluten free flour baking mixes like Bobs Red Mill work in the recipe. I do not recommend coconut flour here, because it is much too dry.

I have not tried the bread with almond flour so cannot recommend it here. However, the almond flour banana bread mentioned in the recipe below is wonderful. I’m hoping to adapt that one into a chocolate version in the near future. Stay tuned!

Readers also love these Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

How to make chocolate banana bread

There’s no stand mixer or blender required. You simply combine the banana bread ingredients, spread the batter into a pan, and add chocolate chips on top if you wish. Bake in the oven, then slice and enjoy. It tastes even better the next day!

To make the recipe, start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan or line it with parchment paper. Set the prepared baking pan aside.

Whisk the mashed banana, sweetener, pure vanilla extract, vinegar, and oil or milk of choice in a large mixing bowl.

Stir the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and optional mini chocolate chips together. I like to do this in a separate bowl to ensure the most even mixing, but you honestly can make it a one bowl banana bread if you prefer.

Combine the wet ingredients and dry ingredients until just evenly mixed. Then spread the dough evenly into the loaf pan. For presentation, I like to sprinkle more chocolate chips on top and press them down into the top of the chocolate loaf cake.

Place the pan on the oven’s center rack, and bake for 45 minutes. Turn off the oven but do not open the door at all. Let the chocolate banana bread sit an additional 10 minutes in the closed oven.

Remove from the oven. Mine is always done after this time. Depending on the elevation and climate where you live and if your oven is calibrated or not, yours might still look under-baked. If this is the case, turn the oven back on and continue to cook until a toothpick inserted into the center of the banana loaf comes out mostly clean.

Let the banana dessert cool before loosely covering it, leaving a space for air and moisture to escape. If you can wait, I highly recommend letting it sit overnight, either on the counter or in the refrigerator, because the taste and texture are ten times better the next day.

Also try this Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Storage tips

Leftover banana bread is fine to leave out overnight on the counter. Cover the bread, making sure to leave a small opening for air to escape, because there is a big difference between super moist and gummy.

Due to the perishable ingredients, it is best to store leftovers in the fridge after a day. Just like traditional banana bread, this recipe should last about four to five days.

If you still have leftover chocolate banana bread after this time, slice and freeze the loaf for up to three months in a covered container. Place a piece of parchment between layers so the slices do not stick together.

The best way to thaw frozen banana bread is to transfer the container to the refrigerator the night before. In the morning, remove the chocolate slices and heat them in the microwave or a skillet or in the oven.

More Banana Bread Recipes

Healthy Banana Bread

Banana Muffins

Pumpkin Banana Bread

Carrot Cake Banana Bread

Vegan Banana Bread

Above, watch the chocolate banana bread recipe video

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