Replacing Flour with Cocoa Powder
A key to this double chocolate chip banana bread recipe is replacing some of the flour with cocoa powder. Most banana bread recipes call for two cups of flour. This recipe replaces 1/3 cup of that flour with 1/3 cup of cocoa powder which results in a double chocolate banana bread that tastes like cake! Every once in a while I will get a comment asking if that delicious chocolate chip bread can be made fully chocolate. I thought it was about time that I made all your chocolate dreams come true. So here, my friends, is the result of your wishes. This Chocolate Banana Bread is still just as moist as the original and just as delicious as my original banana bread, but with a deep and rich chocolatey flavor that you will fall in love with. My family couldn’t get enough of this delicious bread recipe.
Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.Mix wet ingredients. In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, cooled butter, eggs, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla.Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix until just combined–don’t overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.Bake the bread in a bread pan. After it comes out of the oven, allow it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack. Let it cool for 35 more minutes before slicing.
Storing Banana Bread
This chocolate banana bread recipe should be stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to one week. It does not need to be refrigerated. I have the best results when I don’t store the bread in the pan it was baked in. While you can ripen your bananas in the oven to make them more brown, this will not make them sweeter. Fake ripening in the oven will give your bananas the correct consistency but will make for less-sweet bread. It is better to let those bananas fully ripen naturally. Then peel them and freeze them. When you are ready to make your banana bread, let them fully thaw, and use them (and any liquid that goes with them) in this recipe.
Measure your flour properly. This is very important in all baking recipes. First, make sure to whisk the flour in the bag or container it’s stored in. Then scoop it into the measuring cup using a spoon and level it off with the flat edge of a spatula. If you scoop right from the flour container you will get too much.Make sure that your melted butter has cooled. If you use hot butter right out of the microwave, you run the risk of your eggs starting to cook when they get mixed in the batter. We want to avoid that.Use room-temperature eggs and sour cream. This makes them thinner which will mix into the batter better, allowing the bread to rise more. To speed this along, fill a bowl with lukewarm water and put the eggs in there for a few minutes.Make sure that you are using baking soda and NOT baking powder. They are not the same and are not interchangeable. Use baking soda that is still fresh. Baking soda needs to be switched out every six months or so. Test it by adding a little to some vinegar. It should bubble immediately, and if not, replace it.Use a toothpick to test the bread towards the end. Do not insert it directly in the middle of the bread, but slightly off to the side. You want the toothpick to come out with just a few crumbs. If you wait until the top comes out clean, you will risk the bread being overbaked and the edges of the bread being dry.
Use plain yogurt instead of sour cream. They can be used interchangeably, but I do not recommend eliminating it altogether.Swap the chocolate chips. You can take out the chocolate chips (or use half) and replace them with something else such as zucchini like in my Banana Zucchini Bread or nuts. You can also use unsweetened chocolate chips.Use gluten-free flour. I haven’t tested this myself, but I have had readers report good results when they replace the flour in this recipe with one-for-one gluten-free flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.
It can also be frozen as slices. Once cooled, slice the bread into 10 equal slices. Place the bread on a wax paper-lined tray and freeze it for about four hours. Transfer the slices to a freezer-safe bag and store them in the freezer for up to three months. When ready to eat, the slices will take about 30 minutes at room temperature to thaw.
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