Last Updated on 6 August 2026 by cooksimply
We love banana bread in our house, and we make it pretty often because I always seem to have a few sad, spotty bananas sitting in the fruit bowl. Rather than chuck them out, they’re the perfect excuse for a sweet baked treat. So if you’re after an easy cake that’s also fun to make with the kids, this recipe for banana bread with chocolate chips is the one. A handful of simple ingredients, no fancy technique, and you get a soft, moist loaf shot through with melty chocolate. Grab your apron and let’s bake a slice of heaven.
This is a no-butter recipe, made with oil instead, which is the secret to how moist it stays for days. More on why that works below, along with the ingredients, the method, and all my tips for getting it right the first time.
Chocolate chip banana bread: what you need to know
Here’s the quick version before we get into the details:
- This recipe makes 10 servings and takes about 60 minutes start to finish (15 minutes prep, 50 minutes baking).
- It’s a no-butter banana bread, made with oil, so it comes out beautifully moist and keeps well.
- Each slice works out at around 376 calories.
- There’s no creaming and no complicated steps, so it’s genuinely beginner-friendly and great to make with children.
- You can freeze it for up to 3 months, so it’s ideal for batch baking.
If you’ve got ripe bananas and a loaf tin, you’re most of the way there already.
Is this banana bread hard to make?
Not at all. There’s no creaming butter and sugar, and no complicated prep. You mash, you mix, you bake. If you’re a complete novice, this is one of those forgiving recipes that gives you great results every single time. It’s the kind of bake I hand over to my kids when they want to help, because it’s almost impossible to get wrong.
Tips for banana bread with no butter
Most traditional banana bread recipes start by creaming butter and sugar together. This one skips that entirely and uses oil instead. It’s not a compromise or a swap you settle for. Oil is the reason this loaf turns out so soft, and here’s why it works.
Butter is solid at room temperature, so cakes made with it can firm up and dry out once they’ve cooled. Oil stays liquid, which means the crumb stays tender and moist for longer, even a few days after baking. It’s the same trick behind a lot of carrot cakes and brownies.
A few things worth knowing if you’re baking without butter:
- Use a neutral oil. Sunflower or vegetable oil is ideal because it lets the banana and chocolate flavours come through. Avoid strong oils like olive oil, which will taste too savoury.
- Don’t overmix once the flour goes in. Overworking the batter develops the gluten in the flour and can make the loaf dense or rubbery. Mix until you just can’t see any dry flour, then stop.
- The riper the bananas, the better. Really ripe, blackened bananas are sweeter and mash more smoothly, which adds both flavour and moisture. If yours are still a bit firm, they’ll work, but the flavour won’t be as deep.
- Weigh your ingredients. Baking is chemistry, and oil-based loaves are no exception. A set of digital scales will always beat cups for consistency.
What if I only have butter?
You can make this with melted butter if that’s all you have, using the same quantity. It’ll still taste lovely, but you may find it firms up a little more quickly over a day or two. For the moistest result, stick with oil.
Ingredients
The beauty of this loaf is how few things you need, and they’re all storecupboard staples. Here’s your shopping list:
- 3 very ripe bananas – the spottier the better
- 3 large eggs
- 100g golden caster sugar (or plain caster sugar)
- 150ml sunflower or vegetable oil
- 300g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 100g chocolate chips – milk or dark, whichever you prefer
That’s it. Seven ingredients, most of which you probably already have.
A note on the chocolate chips
Use whatever you like here. Milk chocolate chips give a sweeter, kid-friendly loaf, while dark chocolate chips balance the sweetness of the banana beautifully if you prefer something less sugary. One of my readers, Clive, made it with dark chocolate chips in two small tins and said it came out delicious, so don’t be afraid to play around. You can also roughly chop a bar of chocolate if that’s what’s in the cupboard, which gives you lovely uneven pockets of melted chocolate.
Can I make it without chocolate chips?
Absolutely. Leave them out for a classic plain banana bread, or swap them for chopped walnuts, pecans, or a handful of sultanas. If you love the chocolate and banana combination, you might also want to try my banana bread with Nutella, which takes it in an even more indulgent direction.
How to make banana bread with chocolate chips
This comes together in one bowl, which means minimal washing up. Here’s how it goes.
First, prep your tin and oven. Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F) and grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper. Lining the tin properly means the loaf lifts out cleanly, so don’t skip it.
Mash the bananas. In a large mixing bowl, mash your 3 ripe bananas with a fork or potato masher until smooth and free of big lumps. A few small lumps are fine, they’ll bake in.
Add the wet ingredients. Add the eggs, sugar and oil to the mashed banana. Mix everything together until well combined. I like to use a balloon whisk here, I find it quicker and easier than a spoon.
Add the dry ingredients. Tip in the flour and baking powder and whisk together until just combined and the batter has thickened. Try not to overwork it at this stage.
Stir in the chocolate chips. Add the chocolate chips and give it a good stir so they’re evenly spread through the batter. (See my tip below on stopping them sinking.)
Into the tin. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf tin and smooth the top with a spatula so it bakes evenly.
Bake. Bake for around 50 minutes, or until the loaf is well risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Depending on your oven, it can take up to an hour, so trust the skewer rather than the clock. If the top is browning too fast but the middle isn’t done, lay a piece of foil loosely over the top to stop it catching.
Cool. Let the loaf cool in the tin for 10–15 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Why won’t my banana bread cook in the middle?
If your loaf is still wet in the centre after a long time in the oven, the usual culprit is oven temperature. One reader followed the recipe but found it wouldn’t cook even after 90 minutes, and the first thing to check is that your oven is actually at 160°C (320°F). Oven thermostats can be wildly out, so it’s worth testing yours with a cheap oven thermometer. A too-cool oven is the most common reason a banana loaf stays raw in the middle while looking done on top.
Tips, variations and substitutions
Once you’ve made this a few times, it’s easy to make it your own. Here are my favourite tweaks and a few troubleshooting notes.
Stop the chocolate chips sinking. If your chips keep ending up in a layer at the bottom, toss them in a teaspoon of the measured flour before stirring them in. The light coating helps them stay suspended in the batter.
Add a flavour twist. A teaspoon of vanilla extract, a pinch of cinnamon, or a little grated nutmeg all work beautifully with banana. A pinch of salt also lifts the chocolate.
Make it nutty. Add 50g of chopped walnuts or pecans along with the chocolate chips for a bit of crunch.
Bake it as muffins. Divide the batter between a 12-hole muffin tin and bake for around 20–25 minutes, checking with a skewer. Perfect for lunchboxes.
Two smaller loaves. As Clive discovered, you can split the batter between two small tins. Keep the temperature the same and start checking a little earlier, as smaller loaves bake faster.
Dairy-free option. Use dairy-free chocolate chips and the recipe is naturally dairy-free, since there’s no butter or milk.
Will banana bread keep?
Yes, and this one keeps particularly well thanks to the oil. Wrap it tightly in cling film and store it in an airtight container at room temperature, where it’ll stay lovely and moist for a few days. It also freezes brilliantly for up to 3 months. To defrost, just take it out and let it thaw at room temperature for a few hours. This makes it a great candidate for batch baking, so you always have a slice on hand.
Serving suggestions
I’m British, so for me a thick slice goes perfectly with a hot cup of tea, or a ‘brew’ as we say up here. But it’s endlessly versatile:
- Warm from the tin, with the chocolate still slightly molten.
- Lightly toasted and spread with a little butter for breakfast.
- In lunchboxes – my kids love a wrapped slice as a treat, and it holds up well through the day.
- As a pudding, warmed through with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- For afternoon tea, picnics or snacks – it’s the loaf that works at any time of day.
If you’re in a baking mood and want to keep going, my easy blondies and fudgy raspberry chocolate brownies are both firm family favourites. You’ll find plenty more sweet ideas over on my recipes page.
Did you make this recipe?
I’d love to know how you got on. Leave a comment and star rating below, and tag @cooksimplyathome on Instagram if you bake it. Half the fun is seeing your loaves and hearing which chocolate chips you went for.
Other sweet treats
Easy banana bread with chocolate chips
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 3 large eggs
- 100 g golden caster sugar or caster sugar
- 150 ml sunflower vegetable oil
- 300 g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 100 g chocolate chips milk or dark
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160°c (320°F) and grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas with either a fork or potato masher.
- Add the eggs, sugar and oil. Combine well using a balloon whisk
- Then add the flour and baking powder and continue whisking together until thoroughly mixed.
- Pour the chocolate chips into the cake batter and stir well.
- Pour the banana bread batter into the tin.
- Bake for 50 minutes, or until the cake has well risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Slice and serve.
Nutrition
Did you make this banana bread with chocolate chips recipe?
Please let me know if you made this recipe. Leave a comment below and tag @cooksimplyathome on Instagram. You can find other easy meal ideas here.
Hi Ting,
I made the banana bread with dark chocolate chips.
I used two small bread tins for the mix and the same cooking time and heat as per your recipe.
Wow! The banana bread was delicious.
Im going to make it again without chocolate today.
Thanks.
Hi Clive, so pleased that you loved the recipe, it’s definitely one of our favourites. And a great way to use up old bananas.
I’ve followed this recipe to a T and it’s still in the oven after 1.5hrs as it just won’t cook!! What have I done wrong????
I’m assuming you’ve got the oven at the right temperature? 160c or 320F?