Banana & Dark Chocolate Chunks Loaf

Seriously this Banana & Dark Chocolate Chunks Loaf is soooo goood….. it’s the banana cake base recipe that I always come back to! With or without chocolate, completely up to you. But those nuggets of dark chocolate makes the banana bread super decadent. Perfect as a breakfast loaf, afternoon snack or wrap it up and send it to a friend.

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Bananas in my home were always left to rot. I like to buy bunches of bananas and leave them hanging on my banana stand as a convenient healthy snack. But somehow no one in my home actually eats them.

“Why no one eat the bananas? It’s browning.”

“Oh you mean can eat ah?”

“Of course. It’s a fruit.”

“Oh I thought you need them for baking… Anyway so brown already just make banana cake lah.”

Sometimes I can’t help to think that maybe it was intentional. Although my family don’t dare to eat the bananas left hanging on the stand but they will not hesitate to eat banana cake that was left sitting on the table.

Tips For Making The Best Banana Chocolate Loaf

1. Use overripe bananas – Judging from my story of browning bananas, this just proof that family knows very well what makes a good banana cake. That’s right. Overripe bananas are great for baking. For a deep banana flavour, it is important to use bananas that has brown spots on the skin and they should look like they are almost falling off.
2. Mash the bananas with a whisk – instead of using a fork, I recommend mashing with a hand whisk. I find this method is more effective to thoroughly mash your bananas in a shorter time.
3. Use egg foaming method – there are various methods to make banana cake. The easiest is to just mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. However, bananas are rather heavy in weight and may sometimes cause the cake to be too dense. So using the egg foaming method by whipping whole eggs with sugar to pale and fluffy will give the cake a lift resulting in a moist yet not overly dense cake.
4. Don’t overmix your batter – when you overmix the batter after the flour is added in, you may end up deflating the air you spent the last 8 minutes whipping and gluten may form causing the cake to be tough and dry. So stop mixing once everything is just combined.
5. Use good quality couverture chocolate – for melty chunks of chocolate goodness. You can use chocolate chips but it won’t be molten. I like to lay the chocolate in a single layer at the bottom half of the batter so the banana loaf will have a half-half effect. Top half will be like a classic banana cake and bottom half you get to enjoy the all the molten chunks.

Ingredients for Banana & Dark Chocolate Chunks Loaf

The beauty of banana cake is how a few simple ingredients along with rotting bananas can come together into something so delicious. You only need 9 ingredients to make this decadent loaf and most of it you probably already have them in your pantry. You can easily swap sour cream with greek yogurt if that’s easier to get. If you omit the chocolate, this will be a classic banana loaf cake that’s super welcoming as well.

• Unsalted butter
• Eggs
• Sugar
• Overripe bananas
• Sour cream
• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Sea salt
• Dark chocolate (60% to 70%)

So what are you waiting for? Go get some bananas already. You need to give it a few days to brrroooown before baking 😀

Banana & Dark Chocolate Chunks Loaf

This is the banana cake base recipe that I always come back to! Those nuggets of dark chocolate makes the banana loaf super decadent. Perfect as a breakfast loaf, afternoon snack or wrap it up and send it to a friend.

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Servings 1 Loaf

Equipment

• Standard loaf pan

Ingredients

  

• 210 grams all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 180 grams caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 100 grams unsalted butter melted
• 350 grams overripe bananas without skin
• 2 tbsp sour cream or greek yogurt
• 100 grams dark couveture chocolate roughly chop

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 165C. Butter all sides of a loaf pan. Line the loaf pan lenthwise with baking paper for easy removal of the cake.
• Sift together flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Whip together eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment on medium high speed for 8 minutes or until pale and fluffy.
• While the eggs are whipping, mash the bananas with a hand whisk. Once the eggs are pale & fluffy, turn mixer to low speed and slowly drizzle the oil.
• Add mashed bananas and sour cream. Continue to mix on low speed until just combine.
• Add in sifted flour mixture. Using a spatula, cut the flour into the batter and fold until mixture are thouroughly combined. Do not over mix at this point.
• Pour 1/3 of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Scatter all the chopped chocolate on top and pour in remaining batter.
  
• Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour to 1 hour 10 mins. Use a skewer to test at 1 hour mark. If it comes out clean, remove from oven. Otherwise bake for another 5 to 10 minutes.
• Leave to cool for about 15 minutes before removing from the pan and allow it to cool completely before consuming.

Notes

The banana loaf can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. It can also be wrap tightly in a plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 weeks. Bring out to thaw for a few hours before serving.

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment, rate it and don’t forget to tag me @vanillynbakery on Instagram. I’d love to see your lovely bakes!

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out these as well:

Dark Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe

Banana Cake with Chocolate & Walnuts

Classic Sticky Banana Upside-Down Cake