Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread
Updated Aug 16, 2026
Chocolate chip banana nut bread made with over-ripe bananas, walnuts, and Greek yogurt for a moist loaf. An easy quick bread that uses up ripe bananas.
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I have a lot of feelings about banana bread, and the biggest one is that you shouldn’t have to pick a side between chocolate chips and walnuts. I want both, so this chocolate chip banana nut bread has chocolate and nuts in every slice, and I refuse to apologize for it. The other thing I’m firm on is that the bananas have to be genuinely overripe, like the ones you’d be a little embarrassed to put in a fruit bowl. That’s where all the flavor comes from in this easy chocolate chip banana bread.
RECIPE TESTING NOTES
For the past 10 years, I’ve tested every recipe before sharing it with you! These notes give you a peek into the process of developing this chocolate chip banana nut bread recipe.
The bananas are the thing I’m most stuck on, and I’ve tested this enough to know it really matters. Bananas that are just lightly spotted make a bland, flat loaf, but the ones that have gone soft and blackened give you way more sweetness and banana flavor without changing anything else. The uglier they look, the better the bread, so I actually let mine go longer than most people would be comfortable with.
The long bake time needs a little managing too. Because this loaf bakes for the better part of an hour, the top can get too dark before the center is done, so I tent it loosely with foil around the 40 minute mark. I also hold back a few chocolate chips and walnuts to press on top before it goes in, since the ones scattered on the surface look nice and don’t sink into the batter. And letting it cool before slicing is worth the wait, because cutting in too early makes it crumble apart.
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
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Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread Ingredients
- Bananas: Use overripe bananas with lots of brown spots for the sweetest flavor and the softest texture. If they’re still mostly yellow, the banana bread won’t be as sweet or moist.
- Walnuts and chocolate chips: Chop the walnuts so they spread evenly throughout the loaf. You can also use pecans. I use semi-sweet chocolate chips, but use your favorite!
- Dry ingredients: All-purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. You can also try whole wheat flour for a nuttier taste. To make it gluten-free, use an all-purpose gluten-free flour mix; I don’t recommend substituting only almond flour or coconut flour here. Make sure your baking soda is fresh, because if it’s old, the chocolate chip banana nut bread may not rise as well.
- Wet ingredients: Avocado oil, large eggs, maple syrup, plain Greek yogurt, and vanilla extract. You can substitute avocado oil with olive oil or coconut oil, maple syrup with agave or honey, and Greek yogurt with sour cream or milk. I recommend using room-temperature eggs and dairy to help all of the ingredients mix together well.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread
These photos walk through the main recipe steps, so it’s easy to follow along. For the complete ingredient amounts and detailed instructions, head to the recipe card below, or jump straight to the → Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread Recipe
1. WHISK THE WET INGREDIENTS
Add the eggs, oil, maple syrup, Greek yogurt, and vanilla to a large bowl and whisk until smooth and combined.
2. ADD THE BANANAS
Mix the mashed bananas into the wet ingredients until everything looks evenly combined.
3. ADD THE DRY INGREDIENTS
Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a separate bowl. Then, fold the dry mixture into the wet ingredients just until no dry streaks remain.
4. FOLD IN THE MIX-INS
Gently fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Stop mixing as soon as they’re evenly distributed so the batter stays light.
5. FILL THE LOAF PAN
Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle extra chocolate chips and walnuts over the top if you’d like.
6. BAKE UNTIL GOLDEN
Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan before transferring it to a wire rack.
Full Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread Recipe
Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup avocado oil
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 over-ripe medium bananas
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, maple syrup, Greek yogurt, and vanilla extract until well blended. Stir in the mashed bananas until well blended. Fold the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until no streaks of flour remain. Then, fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with more nuts and chocolate chips. Bake for 50–60 minutes, tenting after 40 minutes if needed, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Let cool for at least 20 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Recipe Variations
- Add baking spices: In addition to the cinnamon, add ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon allspice, or ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom for a more spiced bread. You can swap vanilla extract for almond extract, too!
- Top with sliced banana: Arrange a banana, sliced in half lengthwise, over the batter before baking for a bakery-style finish.
- Make chocolate chip banana bread muffins: Just reduce the bake time to 20-22 minutes.
Recipe Tips
- Ripen the bananas in the oven. If your bananas aren’t ripe yet, put them in a 300°F oven (with their peels on) for about 15-20 minutes. They’ll turn black and get super soft inside, just like naturally ripened bananas.
- Don’t overmix the batter. After adding the dry ingredients to the wet, mix until just combined. There should be a few lumps in the batter. Stirring too much can make your chocolate chip banana nut bread turn out tough.
- Tent the loaf pan with foil during the last 10–15 minutes of baking if necessary. Sometimes, around the 40-minute mark, the top of the banana bread will be golden brown, but the center won’t be cooked through yet. Tenting with foil helps prevent the top from burning while you finish baking the banana bread.
- Let it cool before slicing. The banana bread continues setting as it cools, so wait at least 20 minutes for clean slices instead of crumbly ones.
TROUBLESHOOTING
Banana bread often browns on top before the middle finishes baking. If the top is getting too dark, tent it loosely with foil and continue baking until a cake tester comes out clean.
This can happen if you mix the batter too much or if the chocolate chips are very large. Folding them in gently at the end helps keep them suspended more evenly throughout the loaf.
Comments
Super excited to try your recipe with no sugar and only maple syrup!
Thanks for innovating and sharing healthy recipes.
Let me know what you think when you make it!!
made this recipe with blueberries instead of chocolate chips and used a muffin tin because I wanted muffins instead of a loaf and it turned out perfectly. The muffins were moist and held up well and tasted delicious! I love that it’s a tiny bit healthier of a recipe using oil and maple syrup instead of butter and sugar. I also only had olive oil so used that instead of avocado and it did not make a difference in taste.
Sounds so good, Sasha! Love the tweaks you made and glad the muffins turned out delicious!
I was excited when I saw this listed as peanut butter chocolate chip banana bread! But, alas, there was no peanut butter in the recipe. Hugely disappointed as I LOVE peanut butter. Do you have a recipe for any kind of quick bread that uses pb?
Hi Judy! Where did you see this recipe listed as a peanut butter banana bread recipe? I have a Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread recipe that sounds closer to what you’re looking for!
Really tasty and moist! Will make again.
Yay, so glad you liked it!! Thank you!
It looks delicious! Can you substitute Greek yogurt for natural milk yogurt?
Yes, you can! I prefer Greek yogurt to make the bread extra moist but any yogurt will work. Enjoy!
It’s truly sooooo good! The best banana bread I’ve ever made. Usually when I bake something it lasts for 3-4 days in my house but this was demolished within a day!
Aww, yay!! That’s amazing! So happy it was a hit in your house!
I made this tonight with my daughters and it was a hit, even sent some to my parents and they loved it! It’s my go-to recipe now and a huge plus that it did not use sugar! I did the exact amounts and looked at your super helpful tips too. 10/10 on this one!
Yay!! So happy you and your family love the recipe, thank you!!
Soooo good! I made mine with butterscotch instead of chocolate chips and did the muffin version. Really yummy, and easy, will make again!
Yay, so happy to hear that! Thank you!!
Hi Yumna, I wanted to know, why did you change recipe to avocado oil? I thought I was going crazy searching for the recipe with coconut oil 😂. Can you tell me why so I can see if I should switch to avo? ❤️
Hi! Sorry for the switch! I just felt like avocado oil or a neutral oil was easier for most people and I’ve been using it lately for all my baking instead of coconut oil (which needs melting) or canola oil (which I stopped using for health reasons). You can definitely still make it with coconut oil though! ❤️
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