Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

This Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread is a super moist banana bread with swirls of chocolate, simple to make and it’s a true decadent treat!

Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe

You all know I love a good banana bread but this marbled chocolate banana bread has got to be my favorite because chocolate and bananas are such a classic and delicious combo. I love it for breakfast with my cup of coffee, or I love it as a snack when I want to treat myself.

Banana bread is also such an easy bread to make, and this recipe is pretty much a classic banana bread where I take about a quarter of the batter and mix it with some melted chocolate chips. Simple, quick to prep and always a crowd pleaser.

I have so many variations of banana bread (check the links below) but when it comes down to it, banana bread is really all about the bananas and in this case the chocolate as well.

Ingredients In Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe, be sure to scroll down for complete recipe:

• Flour – good all-purpose flour is all you need.
• Baking soda – it acts as a leavening agent to create a fluffy and light bread.
• Salt – to bring all the flavors together.
• Sugar – I’ve made this banana bread before with just white granulated sugar or I’ve mixed with half brown sugar and half white sugar.
• Butter – you can replace the butter with applesauce for a lower calorie bread, and still keep it moist.
• Eggs – eggs act as an emulsifier and make the batter smoother, plus adds volume and texture.
• Sour cream – adds a little richness to the bread.
• Bananas – very ripe bananas, you know that point when they turn ugly and brown and nobody wants to eat them? Those are the bananas you want.
• Chocolate chips – use a good quality dark chocolate chips.

How To Make Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

Prepare your oven and loaf pan: Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray or grease it with butter.

Combine dry ingredients: In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt and mix everything together.

Combine the wet ingredients: In another large bowl, add sugar and butter and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well incorporated. Add eggs, and sour cream; beat until blended then stir in mashed bananas.

Combine the dry and wet: Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and whisk or beat at low speed until just moist and all the flour has been incorporated.

Melt chocolate chips: Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at high for 1 minute or until almost melted. A minute was enough for me, stir until the chocolate is smooth.

Make chocolate batter: Add 1 cup of the batter to the chocolate and stir so that it’s well combined.

Spoon into loaf pan: Spoon the white batter first in the greased pan, then the chocolate batter, and swirl batters together with a knife. Or first spoon a layer of white batter, then a layer of chocolate batter, then white batter, then chocolate and if there’s any white batter add it on top.

Bake: Bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until an inserted toothpick in the middle of the bread comes out clean.

Cool and serve: Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from pan and continue cooling on a wire rack. Slice and serve.

How To Quickly Ripen Bananas

There are two great methods that you can use if your bananas just aren’t quite ready. You can:

1. Place the bananas on a baking sheet and bake them at 250 F for 10-20 minutes.This will depend on how ripe your bananas are to start out with. Keep an eye on them and add time as you see fit.
2. If you are okay with waiting an extra day, place your bananas in a paper bag and fold the top to seal off the outside air. This leaves them in a bag full of their own ethylene, which is what causes them to ripen. Adding an apple, fig, or pear to the bag will help them ripen up a bit more.

Tips For Making The Best Banana Bread

1. Let your bananas get nice and ripe for this bread. The more ripe they get, the better both the flavor and color of your bread will be. Don’t fear a brown banana!
2. When you mash the bananas, let them stay a little chunky. Those bits of warm soft banana are the best bites.
3. You won’t taste the sour cream in this bread- it gives it a tiny bit of tanginess and so much moisture. You can replace this ingredient with plain greek yogurt, if you prefer.
4. Don’t over-mix! Once everything is evenly incorporated, the batter is ready to go.
5. Be generous with the cooking spray in your loaf tin, especially in the corners.
6. Use a cooling rack once the bread is done baking to avoid the exterior from becoming too dark.

What Tools Do You Need To Make Banana Bread

This recipe is so fast to throw together, and is also a great opportunity to introduce kids to the baking world.

For this recipe you’ll need:

• Large mixing bowl
• Fork/ masher
• Large whisk
• Spatula
• Loaf tin
• Cooling rack

Craving More Banana Bread? Try These Recipes:

• Easy Banana Bread
• Banana Blueberry Bread
• Banana Nut Bread
• Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread
• Cream Cheese Filled Banana Cake
• Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Recipe originally shared Sept 2012.