Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread that is sweetened with bananas, maple syrup, gluten-free friendly and loaded with chocolate chips! A dairy free banana bread recipe made with simple ingredients.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Made with simple pantry ingredients and fridge staples.
• This recipe uses whole grain flour and is sweetened with maple syrup for a lighter, healthier banana bread recipe.
• A quick bread with rich chocolate flavor and soft fudgy texture, perfect for chocolate lovers.

Ingredients Needed for Chocolate Banana Bread

• 1:1 gluten-free baking flour or whole wheat white flour – Make sure to use a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour that includes xantham gum, if you need this recipe to be gluten-free. You can also make this bread using whole wheat pastry flour, white whole wheat flour, or even half all-purpose flour, half whole wheat flour.
• unsweetened cocoa powder – This recipe was only tested using unsweetened cocoa powder and cacao powder. I do not recommend using dutch process here.
• baking soda & salt – the leavening agent and salt to balance flavor.
• bananas – for the best flavor, use overripe bananas, the ones with lots of spots (or those that you’ve let go black on the counter). This will give the bread the right amount of sweetness.
• maple syrup – We’re using pure maple syrup to help sweeten the bread. I do not recommend subbing entirely for granulated sugar or the wet-to-dry ratio of ingredients will be off.
• oil – You can use a mild oil here such as avocado oil or light olive oil. Coconut oil may also be used, just be sure your eggs are at room temperature to avoid the coconut oil solidifying as you mix the batter.
• vanilla extract – to bring out the sweetness in chocolate baked goods.
• eggs – You’ll need two large eggs for this quick bread recipe. Eggs help provide lift and structure. Keep reading for more notes on vegan subs with flax eggs.
• non-dairy milk – Milk helps to thin out the batter slightly. Feel free to use the milk of your choice such almond milk, cashew milk, or use soy milk or oat milk to keep this recipe nut-free.
• chocolate chips – Use dietary friendly chocolate chips as needed. I like dark chocolate chips and

How to Make this Quick Bread

With muffins and quick bread recipes using whole grains, it’s a good idea to mix together the dry and wet ingredients separately. This will ensure the ingredients are incorporated properly and the texture of the bread stays soft. There is a reason I write the directions in a certain way, so it’s best to stick to the steps as written. For the full recipe with ingredients, amounts and directions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.

Gather all of your ingredients and read through the recipe first. Then as you get started, it will make working through the recipe much easier.

First mix the dry ingredients in a separate medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, begin to incorporate the wet ingredients by starting with the (very well) mashed banana, maple syrup, oil, vanilla and eggs.

Then slowly and gently stir in the flour until almost combined, and carefully add the milk to until the banana bread batter almost comes together. You can stop mixing when there are just bits of flour remaining, because everything will get fully mixed when you fold in the chocolate chips.

Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into a parchment paper lined loaf pan – a 9×5 metal loaf pan is recommended here for the best results (glass pans bake differently than metal pans and can cause a large difference in the baking time).

I like to top the batter with some extra mini chocolate chips and chocolate chunks for a super chocolate-y top.

Bake the chocolate banana bread for a total of 50-55 minutes, covering with foil at about 25 minutes, and checking with an inserted toothpick at 45 minutes.

How to Tell When Banana Bread is Done

Baking chocolate loafs or chocolate muffins can be a little tricky. I like to tent the loaf pan with foil at the halfway mark, then check the middle for doneness using an inserted toothpick. The bread will be done if the toothpick comes out almost clean – moist, crumbs are okay, but wet batter covering the toothpick means you need additional baking time.

Every oven is different, but if you feel your oven is off from baking other recipes, you might want to invest in an oven thermometer. I got this one and it seems to be pretty accurate!

Ingredient Notes

Flour – This recipe was tested with both 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour and Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. You can also use half whole wheat, half all-purpose. All whole wheat white flour will also be fine, just slightly more dense in texture. 

Sweetener – Maple syrup is the main sweetener here. You can also sub agave, honey and likely date syrup. I found I preferred the taste of this chocolate banana bread with an additional ¼ cup of granulated sugar for the perfect amount of sweetness (i.e. cane, Swerve or coconut sugar). But if you don’t have much of a sweet tooth, the added chocolate chips may be enough. Making sure you use really spotty bananas (black even) will help with not needing any additional dry sweetener.

Bananas – I did not test this with applesauce (it’s banana bread, duh) but if you’re short on bananas, you should be able to make up the difference with applesauce, more oil, or yogurt. For example, if you only have 3/4 cup mashed bananas just add 1/2 cup applesauce. Or greek yogurt. If adding oil I think you’d only need 1/2 cup total (not in addition to what’s already called for). Banana bread recipes are often forgiving if you know how to substitute different wet ingredients into the mix.

Eggs – I did not test this recipe to be egg-free yet, but let me know if you try. You would use 2 tablespoons flax seed meal mixed with ⅓ cup water, let sit until it gels (about 5 minutes), then add in where the original recipe calls for eggs.

Best Banana Bread Recipes

• Carrot Cake Banana Bread
• Whole Wheat Banana Bread
• Zucchini Banana Bread
• Paleo Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Let me know if you try this healthy chocolate banana bread recipe by leaving a comment and review below the recipe! I love hearing from you and it helps others find the recipe too! XX Ashley

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