Simple Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

If you have some very ripe bananas then put them in banana bread! Chocolate chip banana bread is a delicious treat that can be eaten for breakfast or as a dessert! A one bowl creation!

Banana Bread is a style of quick bread that includes mashed bananas, a leavening agent, and is cake-like in texture. It made its first appearance in American cookbooks in the 1930s. This may have been due to the popularization of baking powder and baking soda. According to some food historians, banana bread may have been created by corporate kitchens to promote the sale of flour, baking powder, and baking soda products. While other food historians thought banana bread was a product of the Great Depression. Home-cooks did not want to discard overripe bananas since food was scarce and bananas were costly at the time.

Bananas were believed to have originated around 10,000 years ago. The first bananas were thought to be grown in the area that embodies the Philippines, Malaya Peninsula, Indonesia, and New Guinea. Some scientists believe that bananas were the first fruits. There are more than 1,000 varieties of bananas grown around the world. The variety of banana that is most widely known today is the Cavendish. It was named after the 6th duke of Devonshire, William Spencer Cavendish.

Banana Bread was a very popular thing to bake when I was at university. My three roommates and I all loved to use up our old bananas and make bread. Some of us loved making it plain, others liked adding nuts, and I loved adding chocolate chips. We would share the banana bread with each other and neighbors to our townhouse. I have tweaked and adjusted my original banana bread recipe since university. I like to make it for friends and family, it is always a crowd-pleaser. (It also makes for a great welcome gift to new neighbors). I hope that you like this recipe. Please enjoy!

Simple Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe

Yields 1 loaf

Specialty Tools: Hand Mixer or Stand mixer and Standard Loaf Pan (8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2-inch pan)

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Bake Time: 60 to 70 minutes

Inactive Time: 2 hours

Drink Pairing Suggestion: Milk or Tea

Ingredients

2-3 very ripe bananas

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of Kosher salt

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F

Spray and flour or butter and parchment paper a standard loaf pan, set aside.

In a large bowl, add the bananas. Mash until smooth. Stir in the melted butter.

Add sugar, egg, and vanilla extract to the bowl. Whisk with a hand-mixer until smooth.

Add the baking soda, salt, and 1/2 a cup of flour to the bowl. Mix to combine.

Add the rest of the flour and the chocolate chips to the bowl. Gently incorporate ingredients together.

Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. (Check the bread around 50 minutes). Make sure tester comes out clean.

Place pan on cooling rack. Remove bread from pan after 10 minutes. Cool banana bread on cooling rack, cool completely before serving.

Want more texture? Add 1/4 of a cup of chopped walnuts to the batter.

This is a great recipe to do with the kids. Have them help you measure ingredients and mix the batter. They will also have a lot of fun eating the banana bread when its finished!

DID YOU MAKE THIS DISH?

Tag @culinary_cupcake when you upload your photo on Instagram and hashtag #culinary_cupcake

Want more banana flavors? Try my recipes for Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies, Banana Nut Muffins, and One Bowl Banana Pancakes.