Chocolate Walnut Banana Bread is perfectly soft, with the perfect mix of banana and chocolate, with crunchy walnuts. Perfect for any occasion!
Does anyone else just love chocolate and banana together? I love anything with those two: smoothies, milkshakes, breads, cakes, whatever. It's so delicious.
This may honestly be the best chocolate banana bread ever. It's moist, so chocolatey, so easy to make, and you can whip this up for any holiday (ahem, Easter coming up 😉 ) since not only is it quick to come together, it's great to make ahead, or even freeze a month ahead!
Tips on perfect Walnut Chocolate Banana Bread
Make sure you use good quality cocoa for your chocolate banana bread, and use a natural process cocoa, not the Dutch processed cocoa. Even though Dutch processed gives that deeply rich, beautifully dark chocolate color, it's been processed to remove the acidity from the cocoa which means that Dutch processed cocoa will not react with the baking soda in the recipe. So it's really important that you use natural baking cocoa, which can be found in your baking aisle.
Use very over ripe bananas. You know the kind that is basically about to peel itself? They're incredibly brown and kinda mushy and no one is going to touch them? Perfect! Use them, they bring natural sweetness and moisture to your batter.
You can use whatever kind of mix in you want! Add in chocolate chips, different candies, different nuts, whatever you want. A great tip to make sure your add-ins are well-distributed in your bread: toss them in a little bit of flour before adding into the batter. The flour helps them not sink to the bottom while baking.
Don't over-mix! This is hand-mixed batter, so combine wet and dry ingredients until just combined, then gently fold in the walnuts. Over-mixing will lead to a dry, super dense bread.
Make sure not to over-bake your chocolate banana bread! Once you hit the 50 minute mark, test the bread with a tooth pick. When it's done the toothpick should come out clean, maybe a couple crumbs, but no raw batter.
Can I make this Walnut Chocolate Banana ahead?
100% yes! It will last up to 5 days wrapped up in plastic wrap, and it gets better with each day (much like my pumpkin bread recipe!).
Can I freeze the Chocolate Banana Bread?
Yes! Wrap it tightly with multiple layers of plastic wrap and put into a large freezer-safe zip top bag, it'll stay good for 6-8 weeks.
Want more delicious dessert recipes?
Caramel Apple Galette
Spiced Peach Shortcake
Sweet Potato Chiffon Pie
Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake
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Walnut Chocolate Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoon separated
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups very ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 9x5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper leaving an overhang on the two longer sides, set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the 1 ¾ cup flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt together. Set aside.
- In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, eggs, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and sour cream until well combined.
- In a small bowl, toss the 2 tablespoon flour together with the walnuts until the walnuts are well coated with flour.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients with a silicone spatula until just combined, a little dry flour is okay to see as it'll be mixed in with the walnuts. Gently fold in the walnuts then pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan.
- Bake the chocolate banana bread for 45-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before using the parchment paper overhangs to lift the loaf out of the pan and onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Slice and serve warm or room temperature.
- Keep tightly wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature to keep fresh for five days.
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