While we love tried and true Banana Bread, we can’t get enough of this vegan chocolate banana bread. Adding cocoa powder and chocolate chips takes basic vegan banana bread to a rich, fudgy, indulgent level!

This recipe is super simple but tastes spectacular- your family and friends will love this unique spin on banana bread. Cutting into the first slice fills the kitchen with a rich, brownie-banana wave of goodness.

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Ingredients For Chocolate Banana Bread

This recipe comes together quickly and uses common pantry ingredients– no strange ingredients and no flax eggs required! We’ve made this a number of times for friends and nobody can ever tell it’s vegan! Bananas provide so much moisture and flavor and the chocolate/banana combo is just to die for!

Bananas: We’re flexible! Use 2-4 bananas that are ripey ripe, depending on size. If you have extra large bananas use less, if you have smaller bananas, use more.

Cocoa Powder & Chocolate Chips: The cocoa powder is essential for this recipe, the chocolate chips just take the chocolate to another level and add a nice fudgy bite. Note: Cocoa powder should always be sifted as it has a high tendency to clump! Use regular vegan chocolate chips, mini-chips, or a finely chopped baking bar.

Flour: This recipe has only been tested with all-purpose flour.

Sugar: We opted for brown sugar as those rich molasses flavors hit just right with chocolate. You can substitute cane sugar, white sugar, or even coconut sugar.

Baking Soda & Baking Powder: Baking soda is activated in this recipe by the banana, cocoa powder, and brown sugar to help create loads of lift! Baking powder assists in this effort. If you don’t have baking soda, you can use 2.5 teaspoons of baking powder. Baking soda assists with browning but as this is a chocolate banana bread, you won’t notice much difference!

Butter or Oil: You may use either! Our preference is melted butter for a superior banana bread that keeps well for several days.

Salt: Even in sweet dishes, a pinch of salt brings forward all the delicious flavors at play.

Flavorings: Vanilla extract, cinnamon, or nutmeg are all lovely in banana bread– for chocolate banana bread we lean towards only vanilla extract! Vanilla compliments chocolate wonderfully without overpowering it. Cinnamon and nutmeg, which are common in banana bread, can compete with the chocolate so we leave them out but you do you! Go for the good stuff btw.

Method For Making Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread

Baking up a loaf of banana bread is similar to all other quickbreads like muffins, pancakes, and waffles. The process is a mix wet ingredients, mix dry ingredients, and mix together! This can be done in 1 bowl.

Into a mixing bowl, add peeled bananas and mash thoroughly. Add remaining wet ingredients and combine. Sprinkle dry ingredients across the wet and mix until just incorporated. If using chocolate chips, fold these in after the batter is mixed.

While parchment paper is not required and this loaf will bake up firm enough to remove, a parchment sling in your loaf pan guarantees easy removal and makes sure no chocolate chip is left behind

Banana bread can take anywhere from 45-70 minutes to cook (more on this below) and is ready when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few dry crumbs.

Once baked and removed from the oven, it’s best to leave the loaf to cool for 15-20 minutes in the pan before handling it. It will firm up as it cools and will be easier to cut with slices more fully intact. Vegan banana bread doesn’t have eggs (which provide structure) so it is a bit more delicate.

How To Tell When Banana Bread Is Done

Now, in quickbreads with mix-ins- like chocolate chips- it can’t be a bit more difficult to tell when goods are done via the toothpick test. You may have to poke the loaf a few times in a few different spots to be certain the center is fully cooked

Additional things to note on checking doneness:

#1 Look at the edges of the loaf, they should have pulled inward from the pan a bit and feel firm/set.

#2 Banana bread always gets a crack down the center as air escapes, the area around this crack is usually last to cook up as the crack runs through the center. If this area is still doughy, it’s not ready.

#3 The amount of bananas you use plays a part here! More mashed banana = a wetter dough and more moisture to cook out. This is ok, just keep in mind banana bread can take anywhere from 45-70 minutes!

#4 The size of the loaf pan you bake in. There are two very common loaf pan sizes: 8×4 and 9×5. The 9×5 pans create shorter, wider loaves that cook up a bit quicker. An 8×4 pan takes longer as it’s a taller loaf! (which we prefer)

#5 The material of the pan! A light-colored metal pan is ideal for all your baking projects as light-colored metal evenly distributes heat and cooks things most evenly. For dark metal or glass pans, the heat transfer is more intense- meaning the edges will cook up faster than the center. If using a metal or glass pan you may need to kick down the temp by 25* or tent the loaf with aluminum foil for the last 10-20 minutes if you notice the edges becoming too dark or dry.

Storing Chocolate Banana Bread

Vegan chocolate banana bread will stay good for up to 4 days at room temp. The bread’s taste and texture are best the first 2 days. We recommend storing the loaf in a Tupperware with the lid slightly ajar so the top doesn’t get sticky. Or you can store it in a sealed tupperware in the fridge.

Chocolate banana bread freezes excellently! Wait for loaves to come completely to room temperature (4-6 hours) then wrap them several times with plastic wrap and store them in a plastic bag in the freezer to prevent freezer burn.

Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread FAQs

1. How to add a banana to the top of a loaf of banana bread? For dramatic effect and a gooey, banana-y bite in each slice, you can add a whole banana to the top of your loaf before baking. Slice the banana lengthwise and place it into the loaf, cut side (center of the banana) up and gently push down into the batter. Stagger both halves of the banana on the loaf if you like. Or, you can slice the banana into rounds and add those to the top.
2. What kind of cocoa powder to use? This recipe does not require Dutch-processed cocoa powder, the good ol’ natural cocoa powder you find in stores is ideal!
3. What’s the difference between using butter and using oil? While you can use either interchangeably, oil makes a moister banana bread that has a shorter shelf life. It could be a bit gummier as vegan banana bread recipes don’t have oil. Using melted butter adds better flavor and still provides moisture, but just the right amount. Banana bread using melted butter holds up better being stored.