BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP BREAD

BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP BREAD

A good banana bread is soft and moist with plenty of banana flavor. This recipe can easily be modifed to add your favorite nuts or some chocolate chips. You can also make it in a loaf pan or muffin tins.

Bananas are a common fruit at our house and sometimes they get overripe. Instead of throwing them away, we peel them and put the overripe bananas in a zip-lock plastic bag and freeze them. This way they are available when you need them.

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BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP BREAD

Recipe by America's Test KitchenCourse: Baked GoodsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

1

Loaf
Prep time

20

minutes
Baking time

55

minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan

  • 1 1/4 cups walnuts, chopped coarse (optional)

  • 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) sugar

  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 3 very ripe, soft, darkly speckled large bananas, mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups)

  • 1/4 cup plain yogurt

  • 2 large eggs, beaten lightly

  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  • Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out the excess.
  • Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant, 5 to 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. (optional to add walnuts)
  • Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and walnuts together in a large bowl set aside.
  • Mix the mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla with a wooden spoon in a medium bowl. Lightly fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined and the batter looks thick and chunky. Scrape the butter into the prepared loaf pan.
  • Bake until the load is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. (The bread can be wrapped with plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.)
  • Variation:
    Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
  • Follow the recipe for Banana Bread, reducing the sugar to 10 tablespoons and mixing 2 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips (1/2 cup), into the dry ingredients.

Notes

  • If you want to use frozen bananas, take the bananas out and thaw the frozen bananas on the counter until softened.