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This is truly the best chocolate chip banana bread recipe you will ever make. It’s incredibly moist, loaded with a full two cups of chocolate chips, and has that perfect bakery-style crack on top. Based on my mom’s classic recipe, this loaf uses a secret ingredient to ensure a tender crumb that stays soft for days. Whether you need an easy breakfast or a sweet afternoon snack, this is the ultimate way to use those overripe bananas!
What sets this moist chocolate chip banana bread apart is the use of sour milk (or buttermilk). The acid in the milk reacts with the baking soda to give the bread a beautiful rise and a velvety texture that you just can’t get with standard milk. We also don’t skimp on the chocolate: this recipe calls for a massive amount of chips both inside the batter and sprinkled on top for a gooey finish in every single bite!.
I’ve loved warm and gooey banana bread since I was a little girl when my mom would make it on Saturday mornings. We’d all crowd into the kitchen barely waiting for the bread to cool before we attacked it with butter that would melt and drip because the bread was still hot from the oven.
How to make moist chocolate chip banana bread? Cream ½ cup softened butter with 1 cup sugar. Mix in 2 mashed bananas, 2 eggs, and 7 tbsp sour milk (milk + vinegar) . Fold in 2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, and salt, then stir in 1½ cups chocolate chips . Bake at 350°F for 50-60 minutes in a 9×5 pan. Banana bread is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 200°F-205°F.
Ingredients for the Best Banana Bread
- Bananas are the most important part. Make sure to use overripe bananas (lots of brown spots). Once ripened, always mash your bananas with a fork or potato masher in a separate bowl before adding them to the creamed butter and sugar. This ensures an even distribution of fruit without overworking the flour.
- I use softened unsalted butter for a rich, classic flavor, but you can swap it for an equal amount of vegetable oil or liquid coconut oil if you prefer an even more open, moist crumb.
- I always use granulated sugar in all my banana bread recipes, but you can swap light or dark brown sugar if you prefer.
- My mom always used sour milk in her quick breads. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own by adding a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice to regular milk and letting it sit for 5 minutes. This is the key to activating the baking soda for a tall, fluffy loaf.
- You can use any kind of milk (regular, 2%, fat free or nondairy milk). Just add a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice first to make the milk “sour.”
- This recipe uses baking soda instead of baking powder. The acid in the sour milk or buttermilk helps to activate the baking soda causing a nice rise in the loaf.
- Use your favorite kind of chocolate chips or chocolate chunks in this recipe. I love semi-sweet chocolate chips but you can also use mini chocolate chips.
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Expert Tips
- Pan Size: I recommend using a 9×5-inch or 10×6-inch baking pan for this bread. Or, use two 8×4-inch pans or three mini loaf pans.
- You can make chocolate chip banana muffins using muffin pans.
- You can substitute soy or almond milk in this bread, but add 1 teaspoon of vinegar so the baking soda is activated.
- It will brown a lot on the outside while it’s baking. If it’s browning too much, reduce the oven temperature by 25°. This can happen depending on your oven (i.e. my new oven does this more than my old one does).
- If your banana bread collapses after baking then the bread is not done in the center. Make sure to test the bread in the center of the crack and the toothpick should come out with just a few crumbs sticking to it.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 medium overripe bananas
- 2 large eggs
- 7 tablespoons sour milk or buttermilk (To make sour milk: add 1 teaspoon vinegar to milk and let sit 5 minutes)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups (248g) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (340g) chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9x5with nonstick cooking spray. You can use an 8×4-inch loaf pan and make 1-2 muffins alongside.
- Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer (and hand mixer is okay too).
- Add the bananas, eggs, sour milk, salt, and baking soda to a blender. Mix until liquefied. Alternately, mash the bananas with a fork and then stir the eggs, milk, and baking soda into the bananas.
- Pour half of the banana mixture into the butter mixture with 1 cup of flour and mix until just combined. Repeat with the rest of the liquid and flour. Do not overmix!
- Stir in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips.
- Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips. Bake approximately 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean (test right next to the crack).
- Cool at least 10 minutes in pan.
Recipe Notes
- Pan Size: I recommend using a 9×5-inch or 10×6-inch baking pan for this bread. Or, use two 8×4-inch pans or three mini loaf pans.
- You can make chocolate chip banana bread muffins using muffin pans.
- You can substitute soy or almond milk in this bread, but add 1 teaspoon of vinegar so the baking soda is activated.
- It will brown a lot on the outside while it’s baking. If it’s browning too much, reduce the oven temperature by 25°.
- Cooling: Let it cool a bit before slicing or the chocolate chips will create holes in the bread.
- I usually mash my bananas with a fork but you can also use a blender for all the wet ingredients.
- Did you know you can freeze your overripe bananas? I always tend to over buy bananas and they go brown before I eat them. I always freeze them so I can make banana bread whenever I want.
Recipe Nutrition
Step-by-Step Photos
- Mash bananas in a separate small bowl.
- Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in eggs, baking soda, salt, and bananas.
- Add all-purpose flour and sour milk; mix until batter is just moistened.
- Add chocolate chips and bake in a loaf pan until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the crack.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Variations
- Milk: use buttermilk OR use milk + 1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice. You can also use nondairy milk and add 1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice.
- Gluten Free Banana Bread: you can use 1:1 Gluten Free All Purpose Flour in place of the flour
- Whole Wheat: make whole wheat banana bread using 1 cup all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat flour.
- Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread: Reduce chocolate chips inside batter to 1 cup and use 1/2 cup chopped nuts, either walnuts or pecans.
- Make Blueberry Banana Bread with fresh or thawed frozen berries.
- Turn these into banana muffins by baking in a muffin pan with liners (makes 12).
FAQs
Yes! Thaw them completely and use the liquid that releases; it’s full of concentrated banana flavor.
This usually means the bread was underbaked. Always test the center of the crack with a toothpick; it should come out with just a few moist crumbs.
Absolutely. Use a muffin tin and bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes.
This recipe uses a thick batter that naturally holds the chips, but you can also toss them in a teaspoon of flour before folding them in to be extra safe.
Ok, I hope you aren’t like me and look at the comments before trying this recipe! I have a ceramic loaf pan and it turned into a… salvageable disaster! I did the toothpick test, just next to the crack like the said, and it came back clean. This was at 55 minutes, half way between her suggested end-time range. I let it cool, and when I went to flip it out (thank God onto a parchment sheet and cooling rack) it cracked and started falling apart because the middle was COMPLETELY RAW! There was probably 3/4 cup of raw dough, and my beautiful banana bread was disintegrating before my eyes! So I quickly fitted the loaf pan back over the bottom, grabbed the cooling tray, and flipped it back into the pan. I then covered the top in aluminum foil and let it cook in 10-minute increments until—using a KNIFE—it was done. It ended up taking about 30 more minutes to fully cook. For this type of pan, I would almost suggest bumping the temperature up to 375°F and checking around the 30 minute mark to make sure the top isn’t burning. When you believe the top it done, cover it in aluminum foil—this slows down the cooking of the top, while continuing to cook the center. I hope this helps!!!
I’m so sorry! It must be partially the pan. I know with pie dishes, ceramic cooks faster so it probably cooked the edges quicker than the center.
I am confused on checking oneness, it said recheck on the side of crack and then said in the center, which is correct
If you check in the crack it should come out with a few crumbs. On the side it will come out clean.
Hi..
Can I use brown sugar instead of white sugar?
Delicious! I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips and added a little cinnamon. We’ll gobble this loaf up in a couple of days, or maybe one, and I’ll bake another.
Do you think if I doubled this I could bake it in a bundt? TY!
I think so, yes. Usually 2 loaf pans = one bundt pan, so let me know how it turns out!
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