Dark Chocolate

Banana Bread with Dark Chocolate Chips

by:
October 13, 2013
3
2 Ratings
Banana Bread with Dark Chocolate Chips
Photo by White On Rice Couple
  • Makes 2 Loaves
Author Notes

The biggest influence in my culinary life is my grandmother. When growing up, despite being 800 miles away and growing up on the ranch that rarely afforded us the opportunity to visit her, it was my grandmother’s cooking which inspired me as a young teenager to begin cooking on my own.
Unfortunately I didn’t get to spend much side-by-side time with Grandma in the kitchen. However through the cookbooks I inherited from her, I’ve been able to explore and learn through her sources of inspiration.
Grandma loved to make notes in her cookbook. Scribbles with variations she liked, ingredients that appealed or didn’t appeal to her, and her ever-present “X” ratings. She would give recipes she tried a rating from one to four “x”s.
She had enough savvy to rarely choose a recipe which she rated a meager single “x”, however when there was top rated “xxxx” I knew it was a recipe I needed to try. I’ve yet to make one of Grandma’s “xxxx” rated recipes and not love it. And this banana bread recipe is based off of one of those four x ratings.
The cookbook was called Private Collections, recipes from the Junior League Palo Alto. Based on the amount of scribbles and notes, Grandma loved this book. The original recipe was named “Kona Inn Banana Bread”.
We’ve adapted it to our own taste, incorporating a bit of vanilla extract and including the addition of dark chocolate chips. One could always add nuts, or even use regular chocolate chips, but since Grandma loved to cook to the tastes of the family, I follow suit and always include dark chocolate chips for my mom, even when she isn’t going to get a slice.
—White On Rice Couple

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 cups Sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted Butter
  • 6 ripe Bananas
  • 4 large Eggs
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2 cups Dark Chocolate Chips
  • 2 1/2 cups Cake Flour
  • 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher or Sea Salt
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly grease 2 loaf pans.
  2. Cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add bananas and mash with potato masher until the large chunks of banana are broken up. Beat in the eggs one at a time, and beat until well mixed. Stir in the vanilla extract and the chocolate chips.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir into banana mixture until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
  4. Divide the batter between the loaf pans. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean (chocolate on the toothpick doesn't count) The house should be filled with the scent of fresh banana bread.
  5. Cool on rack for 10 min. before removing from pans. Loosen the edges, then pop loose the bottom of the bread from the pan. Place on wire rack to finish cooling. Keeps wrapped in plastic for up to one week.
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10 Reviews

Emily S.
Emily S. June 21, 2019
This is my go-to banana bread recipe. Always a hit with colleagues and family! I used all-purpose flour minus 4-ish tbsp and replaced with 4-ish tbsp cornstarch. Super fluffy and moist.
 
Emily S.
Emily S. January 13, 2019
This is my new go-to recipe for banana bread. It's a nice balance between light and fluffy and dense, comforting banana bread. It's fantastic. Definitely writing this down to keep.
 
kellyhere
kellyhere October 15, 2018
I haven't eaten this yet, but I made it to bring to my daughter's class tomorrow for her birthday, and I'm pretty bummed out that the loaves aren't coming out of the pan for me to slice and serve individually. I knew I should have lined the pan with parchment just to be safe, but it's a busy weeknight with a lot going on, and I trusted that the recipe's instruction to simply grease the pan would work (it didn't).
 
meredith
meredith March 31, 2016
Turned out wonderfully! i used raw cane sugar and only had 5 bananas on hand, still turned out very well. Fiancé brought the other loaf to his office and it was a hit!!
 
Adrienne
Adrienne January 19, 2016
I enjoy dense banana bread. Would you recommend all purpose flour instead cake flour make a heavier bread?
 
rengahan
rengahan October 1, 2016
When I made this, it was very dense because of all the bananas. In fact, it took longer to cook than the usual banana bread. I don't know if I would try a different flour.
 
sevenfaces
sevenfaces March 14, 2014
Delicious and moist, and there was a nice caramelised crust on the outside that softened up the next day. I used 1 1/2C sugar and 4 very ripe bananas and still found it plenty sweet and banana-y. Plus the boyfriend won't stop raving about it; he often says you can't improve on the banana (wrong!) but with recipes like this I think I'm changing his mind...
 
jackandlily
jackandlily February 14, 2014
Just made this last night...it is delicious.
 
Kelly R.
Kelly R. January 14, 2014
This is so good!!!!!!!!!!! I made it a couple time and shared it, everyone loved it and asked where I got the recipe!! YUM!!
 
wendymoore
wendymoore January 5, 2014
I cannot believe there aren't tons of comments already, praising this fantastic banana bread recipe! It is one of the most moist and delicious banana breads I have ever baked. I added milk instead of dark chocolate because that is what I had on hand. So delicious!