Chocolate-Chip Banana Bread
Updated March 1, 2020
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
Nonstick spray, as needed
4 very ripe medium bananas, peeled
6 tablespoons/85 grams unsalted butter, melted
⅓ cup/80 milliliters plain Greek yogurt
1 cup/220 grams light or dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups/255 grams all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup/135 grams finely chopped chocolate or mini chocolate chips (see Tip)
¾ cup/130 grams coarsely chopped toasted nuts, such as almonds, walnuts or pecans (optional)
Coarse sanding or turbinado sugar, as needed for finishing (optional)
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- Step 2
In a large bowl, mash the bananas coarsely using a fork. They should be fully broken apart, but it’s OK if some larger lumpy pieces remain. Whisk in the melted butter, yogurt, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until well combined.
- Step 3
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt to combine. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir to combine using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon. Scrape the sides and base of the bowl well to make sure the mixture is uniformly combined.
- Step 4
Gently stir in the chocolate until combined, then pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread into an even layer. If using, sprinkle the surface generously with coarse sugar.
- Step 5
Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the edges of the loaf start to pull away from the edge of the pan, and a tester inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 60 to 75 minutes. If the top of the loaf is becoming too dark before it’s baked through, loosely cover with foil.
- Step 6
Transfer from the oven to a cooling rack and run a thin knife around the edge of the banana bread to separate it from the pan. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before unmolding and cooling completely.
To make chocolate chocolate-chip banana bread, reduce the all-purpose flour to 1¾ cups/225 grams, and whisk in ⅓ cup/30 grams cocoa powder with the other dry ingredients in Step 3.
Private Notes
Comments
I've made this as described. I've made it with substitutions. We've eaten it for breakfast. We've eaten it for dessert. No matter how I make it or when we eat it, it's heavenly. For us, it's been the Official Quick Bread of the Pandemic. We've taken to buying bananas in big bunches. We mean to eat them on our cereal, we really do. But after a few days, they start to turn, and we say, "Gosh, would you look at that? Our bananas are turning." And we turn the oven to 350...
According to King Arthur, the internal temperature of banana bread should be 200-205 degrees F. Why guess?
Made this today and subbed buttermilk for the yogurt because...staying home obviously due to social distancing! I also had to use Cake Flour for the same reason...The Banana Bread was so fabulous!!!! I highly recommend making it and even using the same substitutions! (I usually don't like when reviewers change ingredients in the recipe, but I guess we all have to learn to roll with the cards we have been dealt)
This is the best banana bread recipe in the world (and first me, I’ve tried dozens!) I’ve recently started reducing the sugar to 1/2 a cup or not at all, you really don’t need that extra sweetness with four bananas!
I LOVE this recipe. I follow the instructions explicitly and it turns out perfect every time. Use a meat thermometer to tell when the bread is done, at 200-205 degrees. And in my oven it always takes between 85-90 mins to bake, definitely not 60-75. I'm not sure how long it takes to cool because it never lasts that long. Delish.
One of the best banana bread recipes! I added some cinnamon and nutmeg for some extra warmth. I only baked for 45 minutes because the top became very brown, but the inside was perfect!