Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Chocolate makes everything better!  And that's especially true with banana bread.  Replace traditional walnuts with chocolate chips, and you've got yourself one super tasty loaf of chocolate-studded Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.  It's our family's absolute favorite banana bread treat!

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Chocolate makes everything better!  Who's with me??

Well, maybe it doesn't make everything better, but chocolate sure makes lots of things better.  Especially banana bread.

Today I baked up my sister-in-law's buttermilk banana bread, but replaced the traditional nuts in the recipe with chocolate chips.  The result was amazing.  It took an already fantastic thing and made it even just that much better.

Replace traditional walnuts with chocolate chips, and you've got yourself one super tasty loaf of chocolate-studded Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

The combination of banana and chocolate is a wonderful one.  Have you ever dipped a banana in chocolate?  It's soooo good, right?  Well, it's no different with chocolate and banana bread -- the flavor combination is a wonderful one.

But apparently that combination of chocolate and banana is one my Mom isn't on board with.

See, my Mom called me while I was making this.  When I told her I was making Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, her response was, "That's different."  And I could tell what she meant was "that's  weird."  You know how "Mom" voice tones go, right?

Rest assured though, Chocolate Chip Banana Bread isn't weird -- it's delicious!

So let's take a look at how to make a loaf of this totally delicious, totally not weird Chocolate Chip Banana Bread -- starting with the bananas themselves.

One of the secrets to making the most flavorful banana bread is to use overripe bananas.  But just how do you know when an overripe banana is perfect for making banana bread?  How overripe is overripe enough?

To answer that question, let's take a look at the bananas in the photo below.

The bananas you see in the photo that still have a yellow background on their peels, dotted with lots of brown spots, are the earliest in the overripe scale I use to make banana bread.  These bananas will produce a very yummy loaf of banana bread, indeed.

But the absolute best bananas for making banana bread are those that have gone well past their prime. -- Like the blackened banana you see on the left side of the photo laying across its spotted counterparts.  That blackened banana is the perfect banana for making banana bread.

Why?  Because blackened bananas like that one are sweeter with a stronger, more pronounced banana flavor.  And they'll bring a strong banana flavor to the baked bread.

The absolute best bananas for making banana bread are those that have gone well past their prime.

Don't have overripe bananas?  Well, just leave some bananas out on the counter for a few days -- and rest assured, they'll get there. 

Once you've got some perfectly overripe bananas to make your banana bread, mash them in a bowl with a fork.  Then pour in some buttermilk, and mash the bananas again to form a kind of soupy mixture.  The buttermilk helps the banana bread bake up nice and tender and moist.

Set this banana mixture aside while you prepare the rest of the bread's batter.

The bread's batter is a pretty straightforward one.  The base of its creamed mixture is butter and brown sugar. -- Using brown sugar instead of granulated sugar brings a wonderful depth of flavor.

Once the butter and brown sugar are creamed together, add in a couple of eggs and a touch of vanilla extract.  Then, alternately mix in the bread's dry ingredients and the mashed banana-buttermilk mixture.

A light coating of flour keeps the chocolate chips from all just sinking to the bottom of the pan while the banana bread bakes.

And then you're ready for the chocolate chips!

Before adding the chocolate chips to the batter, dust them lightly with a little bit of flour.  Why?  Because a light coating of flour keeps the chocolate chips from all just sinking to the bottom of the pan while the banana bread bakes.

Somehow, the flour coating helps the chocolate chips "cling" within the batter and results in a baked loaf with chocolate chips dispersed all throughout, rather than with just a big stripe of chocolate chips at the bottom.

For the 3/4 cup chocolate chips in this recipe, I use 1 teaspoon of flour to coat them.  You don't want to use a lot of flour for the dusting, because this would add in too much flour to the batter.  Just a little dab will do!

Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake until the banana bread is beautifully golden brown, which takes about an hour.

Once baked, cool the banana bread in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then remove the loaf from the pan and allow it to cool completely before slicing.

Then slice away and dig on in to the not-weird Chocolate Chip Banana Bread deliciousness.

It's a wonderful flavor combination just perfect for breakfast, with a cup of hot coffee, or as an after-school snack.  Hands-down, it's our family's absolute favorite banana bread treat.

Check out these other tasty banana treats:

• Buttermilk Banana Bread
• Pumpkin Banana Bread
• Old-Fashioned Banana Pudding from Scratch
• Banana Pudding Yum Yum
• Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
• No-Bake Banana Split Cake
• Frozen Banana Split Pie
• Hummingbird Sheet Cake
• Banana Pudding Pie
• Banana Pudding Cake
• Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
• More quick breads & muffins

Thank you for stopping by The Kitchen is My Playground. We'd love to have you back soon!

banana bread recipe, chocolate chip banana bread recipe, chocolate chip bread, recipes with overripe bananas

Breads

American

Yield: 1 loaf

Author: Tracey | The Kitchen is My Playground

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Chocolate makes everything better! And that's especially true with banana bread. Replace traditional walnuts with chocolate chips, and you've got yourself one super tasty loaf of chocolate-studded Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. It's our family's absolute favorite banana bread treat!

prep time: 20 Mcook time: 1 hourtotal time: 1 H & 20 M

ingredients:

• 3 very ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 c. mashed)
• 1/4 c. buttermilk
• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3/4 c. light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips + 1 tsp. all-purpose flour

instructions:

How to cook Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

1. In a small bowl, mash bananas with a fork. Mash in buttermilk; set aside.
2. Place softened butter in a large bowl. With an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth. Add brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating briefly after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Alternately add the flour mixture and mashed banana to the butter-brown sugar mixture, beating after each addition just until incorporated.
5. Dust chocolate chips with the 1 teaspoon flour; toss to coat chocolate chips.  Fold chocolate chips into banana bread batter.
6. Lightly grease a loaf pan. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and cool completely before slicing.

TRACEY'S NOTES:

1. You substitute milk chocolate chips, if you'd prefer.  But we love the flavor combination of banana and semi-sweet chocolate chips!
2. To bake as mini loaves, pour batter into 3 mini loaf pans (5 3/4" x 3 1/4" x 2") and bake for about 35 minutes.

https://www.thekitchenismyplayground.com/2011/06/chocolate-chip-banana-bread-its-not.html

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You might also like these other quick-bread and muffins favorites:

Pumpkin Banana Bread with Honey Glaze

Oatmeal Muffins

Buttermilk Banana Bread

Family-Favorite Applesauce Muffins

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

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This post is linked with Weekend Potluck, Meal Plan Monday.