If you love banana bread with chocolate chips, let me share a whole-grain recipe I know you are going to love. This Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips is a tender loaf with the best flavor and added chocolate chips. I promise this will quickly become a favorite in your house too!
Banana bread fan? Let me share a few other recipes I think you will love. This zucchini banana bread is really delicious! Or what about this Einkorn Banana bread made with an ancient grain. This carrot zucchini banana bread is a great way to get in more veggies into your banana bread.
What Makes This Banana Bread So Good?
Well, it is a classic whole wheat banana bread recipe, but with the added chocolate chips, it is next level. What is it about the banana-chocolate combo? I am all in.
This is really tender and moist banana bread. If you have ever had a dry loaf of whole wheat banana bread, I am sorry. But this recipe is not that…unless you overbake.
Ingredients
- Ripe Bananas- These will give the best flavor to your bread.
- Whole wheat flour- I used white wheat for this, but red wheat and spelt will also work.
- Baking soda- This is used as a leavener I love to use it for banana bread.
- Salt- it doesn’t take much, but should not be left out!
- Butter- the flavor is everything in bread.
- Canola oil- I really like a blend of canola oil and butter in my quick bread. The butter for flavor and the canola oil as it makes the bread so tender!
- Brown sugar- This gives that molasses flavor to the bread that is so good! You can use granulated sugar if you like, but I prefer brown sugar.
- Vanilla- this is like salt, it doesn’t take much but is really worth it!
- Eggs- These are used for structure and for flavor.
- Chocolate Chips- dark chocolate is always my chocolate of choice, but semi-sweet and milk chocolate also work!
How to make
Start by mixing your flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set this aside.
In another medium-sized bowl, mash your bananas. To this add the butter, oil, and brown sugar. Mix this well until they are combined.
Next in are the eggs and vanilla. This time only mix to combine. Combine the wet and dry, then mix it in. Again, only mix to combine. If you over mix the bread will be really tough.
Last in are the chocolate chips, make sure and reserve about ¼ cup to sprinkle on the top. Mix them and pour the batter into a prepared pan.
Place it in the oven and bake for about 40-50 minutes. Pull it from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes.
Turn it out onto a cooling rack. You can eat this warm, cooled, or even chilled. It is delicious no matter how you choose to eat it!
If you want to save part of the loaf, I wrote a post all about freezing banana bread.
Tips
- First up, do not overmix your batter. This will result in a dense loaf. This is important with any quick bread, but really important when you are using whole wheat.
- Also, make sure and use the spoon method for measuring wheat flour, if you aren't grinding your own. The flour will compact in shipping. Make sure and give it a quick mix, then spoon it into your measuring cup, then level it off with a knife.
- The next biggest tip I have is not to overbake. For those dry baked goods I talked about, the baking time is the biggest culprit. Let me share my favorite trick for avoiding this.
- Underbake your loaf just slightly. I know, this might sound like a bad idea but hear me out. Any baked goods will experience "carry-over cooking" when they are removed from the heat source. What this means is the residual heat in the baked good will continue to cook the loaf even after it is pulled from the oven. This is really important to remember with whole wheat as it absorbs more moisture. If you pull this loaf out when it is perfectly baked, it will continue to cook over the next 5-10 minutes and become dry. So, underbake it just slightly and it will be perfect when you are ready to slice! My perfect time in the oven was 50 minutes.
Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips
Equipment
- 1 medium and small bowl
- 1 9x4 loaf pan
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup whole wheat flour in this recipe I used a white whole wheat.
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 3 ripe bananas
- ¼ cup melted butter
- ⅓ cup canola oil or other oil of choice.
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup chocolate chips ¾ cups inside the batter, and ¼ cup for the topping.
- 1 cup chopped pecans optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray your loaf pan and set it aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set this aside.
- In another medium-sized bowl, combine the butter, oil, and brown sugar. Mix well, then add bananas. Next up are the eggs and vanilla. Mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix only until they are just combined. You do not want to overmix at this point. Last, add in the chocolate chips and nuts if you are using them, making sure to reserve about ¼ cup chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of chopped nuts. I like to sprinkle these down the center of the loaf once I pour the batter into the pan. Mix to combine.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan, sprinkle with the chocolate chips and nut, and place it in the oven. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Remember, as noted in the recipe post, you do not want to overbake whole-grain baked goods. Mine took 50 minutes right on the dot.
- I like to check by gently pressing the very center of the loaf. It should be just slightly underbaked. It will continue to cook even when removed from the oven.
- Now, remove from the oven and let this sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes. Then gently remove the bread from the pan by inverting, then turning it right side up again.
- This is delicious warm, it is delicious cooled. You cannot go wrong with this bread!
Notes
- First up, do not overmix your batter. This will result in a dense loaf. This is important with any quick bread, but really important when you are using whole wheat.
- Also, make sure and use the spoon method for measuring wheat flour, if you aren't grinding your own. The flour will compact in shipping. Make sure and give it a quick mix, then spoon it into your measuring cup, then level it off with a knife.
- The next biggest tip I have is not to overbake. Those dry baked goods I talked about, the baking time is the biggest culprit. Let me share my favorite trick for avoiding this.
- Underbake your loaf just slightly. I know, this might sound like a bad idea but hear me out. Any baked good will experience "carry-over cooking" when they are removed from the heat source.
- What this means is the residual heat in the baked good will continue to cook the loaf even after it is pulled from the oven. This is really important to remember with whole wheat as it absorbs more moisture.
- If you pull this loaf out when it is perfectly baked, it will continue to cook over the next 5-10 minutes and become dry. So, underbake it just slightly and it will be perfect when you are ready to slice! My perfect time in the oven was 50 minutes
Breanna says
OH MY GOODNESS! I too have tried multiple healthier banana bread recipes and this is by far my favorite!! You cannot even tell it’s healthier and my kids don’t know it either 🙂 It is tasty and moist and I will definitely be cooking this recipe again! Thanks Amy! As always your recipes are amazing !
admin says
Thank you so much Breanna! I'm glad your family liked it!