Ripe bananas, chocolate chips, a bowl and 10 minutes of hands on time is about all you need to make incredible Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. Tender, moist, and loaded with chocolate chips, this easy recipe is one that always gets rave reviews!
Why You’ll Love This Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe
This recipe combines my incredibly popular Sour Cream Banana Recipe which has nearly 600 five-star ratings, with everyone’s favorite ingredient, chocolate. A tried and true recipe made even better with chocolate chips. This one won’t last long and will get rave reviews from your friends and family!
What I Love:
- Made with simple ingredients, I almost always have everything I need on hand to make this recipe.
- By using just one bowl, clean up is quick and easy.
- This recipe makes two loaves, perfect for enjoying one now and freezing one for later.
- Don’t need two loaves – you can easily cut this recipe in half.
- Banana bread is a favorite of mine – I have over 20 Banana Bread recipes on the site. The only thing better than a slice of banana bread might be banana bread WITH chocolate chips!
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Ingredients You’ll Need
This is a discussion about the ingredients. For the actual recipe with amounts, please see the recipe below.
- Butter – I typically use unsalted butter as it has a lower water content than salted butter, and it allows you to control the level of salt in the recipe. That said, you are completely fine using salted butter if that’s what you have on hand.
- Sugar – Standard granulated sugar.
- Egg – I recommend using large or extra large eggs.
- Bananas – You want very ripe bananas. Spotty to dark brown! As bananas ripen they get sweeter and the texture is creamy and easy to mash. Large bananas are ideal, medium will work, but if yours are small – go ahead and extra banana to the recipe.
- Sour Cream – This gives this chocolate chip chip banana bread a wonderful, tender crumb.
- Vanilla Extract – If possible, use pure vanilla extract.
- Flour – All purpose flour is perfect in this recipe. Make sure to read my notes below on measuring flour correctly – it’s important!
- Cinnamon – The cinnamon flavor is not strong in this bread, but gives that little something in the background. You can omit if desired.
- Baking Soda – Always check the expiration date on your baking soda. I tend to replace my baking soda every few months if the box is open.
- Salt – This helps balance the sweetness. You can leave it out, but I don’t recommend it.
- Chocolate Chips – I like to use a combo of regular chocolate chips and minis. The regular gives you those big pockets of chocolate, while the minis see to it that the chocolate is really spread throughout. I prefer semi-sweet, I think milk chocolate is too sweet in this recipe. Dark chocolate would work though!
How To Make Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
This is a discussion about how this recipe is made. For the actual recipe with full details, please see the recipe below.
Step 1: Cream together butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs and mix well.
Step 2: Add in sour cream, mashed bananas and vanilla, and mix.
Step 3: Fold in chocolate chips.
Step 4: Transfer to loaf pan to bake for approximately 1 hour.
Christi’s Tips For Success!
- Use RIPE bananas. Ripe bananas are sweeter and creamier and really make the absolute best banana bread.
- When it’s time to add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, be careful not to over mix. You want to stir everything together just until combined. Mixing too vigorously will overwork the gluten in the flour resulting in a tough, dense loaf.
- If you want a beautiful, round dome on your chocolate chip banana bread, leave the banana bread batter sitting in the loaf pan for about 10-15 minutes before popping it in the oven. This will give the rise a head start and a little boost!
Measure Flour Correctly
For the best results, make sure to measure flour correctly using the following steps:
- Fluff the flour by giving it a stir. This will aerate it so that it’s not compacted.
- Using a spoon, spoon flour into a measuring cup until it’s overflowing. Do not scoop the flour with the measuring cup as this will compact it, giving you more than you need.
- Level the flour using a flat edge, such as a butter knife or spoon handle.
Following these steps helps to avoid adding too much flour to the recipe, which can result in dry and dense baked goods. If measuring by weight this should be in the 125-135 gram range. Get all my flour tips, tricks and info here!
Storage Tips
You can store Chocolate Chip Banana Bread covered on the counter for 2-3 days, but for a little extra shelf life, I like storing it in the fridge in an airtight container.
Freezing: This chocolate chip banana bread freezes great! Just make sure it’s completely cooled before storing it in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag. For the best texture and flavor, try to enjoy it within 6 months.
When you’re ready for a slice, let it come to room temperature or warm it in the microwave for a few seconds so it becomes soft again.
Serving Suggestions
A loaf of homemade chocolate chip banana bread also makes a fantastic hostess gift or potluck dish! I’ve never known any chocolate lover or banana bread fan to turn down a slice or two of this loaf.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread is such a versatile baked good. I’ve served it for dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, enjoyed a slice for a midday snack and spread it with butter first thing in the morning for breakfast.
I Think You’ll Like These Recipes
Looking for a great banana muffin recipe? Give Banana Bread Muffins and Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins a try. Chocolate lovers will also adore my Chocolate Banana Muffins as well as my Chocolate Banana Cake recipe! Other great recipes that you can add chocolate chips to are the Betty Crocker Banana Bread recipe and my Banana Bread With Sour Cream recipe.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup butter (softened)
- 1 1/4 cups white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 4 large very ripe bananas (mashed)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (or white whole wheat)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease two loaf pans that are approximately 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches in size.
- Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs and mix well. Add sour cream, mashed bananas, vanilla and stir to combine.
- Add the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips but do not over mixed.
- Divide the batter evenly between prepared loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Transfer bread in loaf pans to a wire rack to cool. Cool or at least 20 minutes in pan before removing from pan.*
Notes
- If using smaller bananas, 5 are recommended.
- The more ripe your bananas are, the better the bread will be!
- *I like to store my bread in the pan I bake it in. We slice as we need some, and keep covered with cling wrap. This helps keep the bread moist and fresh.
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Photo from original post in 2019. Post updated in May 2026 with improvements to the recipe and new photos.
Meet Christi, Love From The Oven
I’m Christi I love sharing easy & delicious recipes that your family & friends will love. I’m a mom, baker, cookbook author and lover of sprinkles.
Could you also add sour cream to this recipe like you have in the original banana bread recipe? ◡̈
So what I would probably do is use the sour cream recipe, and add chocolate chips, versus tweaking this one. That will work fine, where this one I’d feel like I’d need to test how much sour cream and what else might need to be tweaked.
Hi, I hv baked this few times, my family luvs it so much, thank u for the super easy and delish recipe
This turned out great. So yummy and easy to make.
How much salt is required? In the ingredients list it just states “1/2 salt”. Thank you!
Jackie, that would be tsp. I’ll update that!
That’s what I figured, perfect thank you! Happy thanksgiving!!
I’ve seen applesauce used in place of butter or oil in some recipes. Would that work here? Would it change the texture or taste? Just wondering.
I haven’t tried it so I’m afraid I can’t speak to the results. Let us know if you try it!