Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Freeze baked & cooled loaf, tightly wrapped, for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. If desired, bring to room temperature before serving. To learn more details about how to freeze quick breads, see my post called Make-Ahead Baking.

You can try these whole wheat healthier chocolate banana muffins, or turn today’s more decadent batter into muffins. To do so, preheat oven to 425°F (218°C) and spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Prepare batter as directed above, fill each liner to the top with batter and bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C). Then, keeping the muffins in the oven, lower the temperature to 350°F (177°C) and continue to bake for an additional 14–15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes 12–16 muffins.

Can I Use Whole Wheat Flour? Yes, you can replace the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour with no other changes needed. The loaf will taste denser.

Use natural cocoa powder, not Dutch-process. See Dutch-process vs natural cocoa powder for more information.

Don’t leave these out! They sweeten the bread and give the bread more chocolate flavor.

I usually use sour cream or nonfat plain Greek yogurt. For the yogurt, you can use full-fat, low-fat, or even vanilla Greek yogurt instead. Or use regular plain yogurt.

You can use frozen bananas here. Thaw the frozen bananas. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking. Try not to mash too much or else you’ll be left with 2 cups of banana-y liquid; some chunks are great.