The Best Banana Bread Recipe

I have been perfecting my simple, soft and fluffy, chocolate chip Banana Bread recipe, with an easy and addictive sugary topping for quite some time. Since I was little, I would look forward to the bananas going brown in my house as an excuse to bake this banana bread. I really tried to develop a recipe that would be soft, yet not too dense (I loathe soggy bottoms), so this banana bread is really fool-proof! It is as easy as it is delicious, and has ingredients that you likely already have at home. I also filmed a quick video showing you exactly how I make my Banana Bread, so without further ado, here is the written recipe…

Banana Bread Ingredients:

2 to 3 Ripe Bananas (2 if large, 3 if small/medium)
1/3 Cup Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature)
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Large Egg
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Salt
Dash (or 1/8th Tsp) of Cinnamon *Optional
1/2 Cup Milk
3/4 Cup Chocolate Chips *Optional

*You can optionally add nuts (about 1/2 a cup) I like chopped pecans as well in this recipe.

Banana Bread Instructions:

– Pre-heat your oven to 350F

-Cream the Bananas, butter, and sugar until combined. (I use the paddle attachment of my stand mixer, but you can even do this with an electric mixer or by hand).
– Add in the egg, and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated.
– In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and dash of cinnamon, and give a stir to incorporate.
– Alternately add the flour mixture, and milk to the banana batter until everything is combined in a creamy mix. Whip well. You will likely need to scrape down the bowl. It is a good idea to start and end with the flour mix.
– Add the chocolate chips to the batter and mix until just combined. This is optional, as you can even make a plain banana bread, but chocolate makes everything better 🙂

*At this stage you can then pour the batter into a parchment lined loaf pan, and bake at 350F for 1 hour… BUT… I like to make a crumble topping to top this banana bread with. It is of course optional, but in my opinion it makes this banana bread that much more delicious and special. With the batter poured into the lined loaf pan, I then prepare the topping…

Easy Topping Ingredients:

1 to 2 Tbsp Salted Butter (If unsalted you can add a sprinkle of salt on top)
2 to 3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
Dash Cinnamon *Optional
3 to 4 Tbsp Chocolate chips

*You can optionally sprinkle chopped nuts (I sometimes add pecans)

Topping Instructions:

– Take small pats of the salted butter and try to evenly distribute it on top of the banana bread that is already in the parchment lined loaf tin. *If you used unsalted butter you can sprinkle a dash on top if you would like.
– Sprinkle over top the brown sugar, enough to cover the top in a sugary dusting.
– This is optional, but if you like cinnamon, sprinkle some on top.
– I then take the chocolate chips (I used milk, but you can use dark) and sprinkle some on top. I used nearly 1/4 cup.

* Now with your oven set to 350F bake the Banana Bread for 1 hour. Let it cool for about 20 minutes before removing it from the pan, and eating. 

You now have a delicious soft and fluffy chocolate chip banana bread with a sugary topping. This is seriously the best banana bread, and I am always asked for the recipe, so I am happy to finally share it with you all 🙂

If you would like to watch the video you can find it HERE!

I hope you give this a try, and if you do I would love to hear your thoughts! I love eating this warm from the oven, or even warmed up for a few seconds in the microwave the next day, with some salted butter smeared on the slice of Banana Bread.

Update: If you would like a “black & white” or marbled banana bread, simply reserve about 1/2 the batter and add a few Tbsp of cocoa powder to the batter. Mix until incorporated and then add the original batter with the chocolate batter on top, and a bit more original batter on top of that. You can really alternate the layers for a more marbled effect. This makes a yummy alternative to simple banana bread. It will look like the photo below:

(Sorry for the quality), but it was delicious!

Thanks for reading, and happy baking 🙂
Love: Lisa (@LaDolceLisa)