Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread
Published 4/22/2021 • Updated 12/12/2024
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Are you ready for the most delicious chocolate banana bread you’ve ever tasted? It’s so chocolatey and moist and tastes like dessert.
This chocolate banana bread continues to get 5-star review after 5-star review! It’s chocolatey, fluffy, and made with whole ingredients!
Similar to our healthy banana bread recipe, this chocolate banana bread is made with white whole wheat flour and coconut oil. While we did use 1/2 cup brown sugar, this recipe is mostly sweetened with the bananas themselves!
Why make this chocolate banana bread recipe?
Whole grains: this chocolate banana bread is made with white whole wheat flour instead of refined flour.
3 bananas: we aren’t skimping on the banana flavor in this recipe!
Chocolate x 2: not only does this recipe call for cocoa powder, but we’re also using chocolate chips too!
Chocolate Banana Bread Tips
The bananas matter: The riper the banana, the sweeter. They are also easier to mash. One thing we’ve learned is that if you don’t mash your bananas enough, they will sink to the bottom, so just make sure you get in there and mash them well.
The pan you use matters, too! There is no wrong answer, but if you use a metal loaf pan, it distributes the heat more evenly, where there is more of a chance of uneven cooking in a ceramic pan.
Add the coconut oil last: I know I mentioned this once before, but it’s the best tip I ever received. Make sure that you add the coconut oil last so that it doesn’t firm up when it mixes with the other cold, wet ingredients.
Don’t over cook: Make sure to keep an eye on the center of your loaf. If you overcook your bread, it will end up tough and crumbly.
Make chocolate banana muffins instead!
Would you rather make chocolate banana muffins instead? Here some easy direction on how to use this batter to make muffins instead.
- Line a muffin tin with muffin liners and spray them with cooking spray.
- Make the batter as directed in the recipe card.
- Fill each muffin well about 3/4 of the way full. You should get around 12 muffins.
- Bake at 350ºF for around 18-23 minutes or until the centers are fully cooked.
PS: check out our healthy chocolate muffins.
Chocolate Banana Bread Variations
Use nuts: chocolate walnut banana bread? Yes please! Swap the chocolate chips for chopped walnuts or pecans.
Use applesauce: don’t like bananas? Try using a heaping cup of applesauce instead!
Make it dark chocolate: instead of normal unsweetened cocoa powder, use dark cocoa powder instead for a more intense chocolate flavor. PS: go big and swap the semi-sweet chocolate chips for dark chocolate chips.
Storage
Let banana bread cool completely. Then, wrap it with a piece of tin foil and store on the counter in a cool, dark place for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Can you freeze chocolate banana bread?
Let your healthy chocolate banana bread cool completely. Then, tightly wrap it in tinfoil and remove as much air as possible. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Chocolate Banana Bread
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- ½ cup light brown sugar, or coconut sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips, + more for topping
Wet Ingredients
- 2 large eggs*
- 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed (~1.25 cups)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk**
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 350ºF and spray a standard-size bread pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Mix dry ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, mash 3 bananas with a fork. Then, mix in the rest of the wet ingredients minus the coconut oil.
- Slowly add dry ingredients to wet and mix to combine. Then, add in the melted coconut oil and mix again to combine.
- Pour batter into greased bread pan, sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top, and bake at 350ºF for 45-50 minutes or until the center is fully cooked.
- Remove banana bread from oven, let cool for 10 minutes, and remove from pan to finish cooling.
- Enjoy!
Tips & Notes
- Almond milk*: If the batter is unusually thick, add a little bit more almond milk. Thick batter can be due to the bananas you used!
- Make it vegan**: swap the eggs for 1/3 cup of unsweetened pumpkin puree.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Super simple and yummy recipe. My loaf came out perfect and moist. I did not have coconut oil so I used olive oil instead…#South africa
Our go to chocolate banana bread! first time making it with Gluten free 1 to 1 flour and came out just as good!
So yummy! I did not have whole wheat flour, almond milk, or coconut oil on hand, but they were easy to substitute. I used all purpose flour, whole milk and ¼ cup melted butter instead. Absolutely fantastic! A huge hit with the whole family and my fiance’s coworkers loved the extra loaf I made. I did not double the recipe, I just had smaller loaf pans.
Hey there, we used break maker and it had a sweet bread setting which cooked for about 3 hours. The loaf turned out very grainy. Was it because of overcooking? In addition to that we added monk fruit sugar instead of brown sugar. We only had two bananas at hand, so we added extra milk. What did we do wrong 😭😭😭
So sorry to hear this, Nan! We haven’t tested this recipe in a bread maker or with monk fruit sugar, so guessing both of those contributed! This is one of our most popular banana bread recipes, so hoping you’ll give it another try in the oven!
This is my favorite recipe and I have it almost every single day for breakfast.
So delicious that my kids don’t even feel the taste of bananas. Would it be possible to replace the wheat flour with oat flour 1:1? if so, anything else to be adjusted in the recipe?
I followed the recipe almost exactly, with two tiny tweaks: I used up a bit of yogurt and made up the rest with plant milk; and I added one tsp of coffee powder cuz I heard that complements the chocolate flavour. I loved it, and it was well-received at work! Thank you
Wow, these are good! I cut the recipe in half and made into muffins, baked for 25min. Thank you for the great recipe!
Look at those gorg muffins!
This right here …damn delicious. I did use whole wheat but you can’t tell. Was also out of chocolate chips, couldn’t tell! It doesn’t even need butter!!!!
Aw, we’re blushing! Thanks for this review, Tracy!