If there is one thing banana bread absolutely should not be, it’s dry.

This chocolate chunk banana bread is soft, moist, full of banana flavor, and loaded with chunks of chocolate. It uses three ripe bananas, melted butter, brown sugar, and Greek yogurt or skyr for a tender loaf that stays moist for days.

And because I’m a pediatric dietitian, I couldn’t resist adding a little nutrition by addition. Greek yogurt or skyr adds some protein and calcium, while a couple tablespoons of ground flaxseed add fiber and healthy fats.

But make no mistake: this is still banana bread. It’s not some magically healthy bread because I added those two things.

We’re not replacing all the flour, removing the sugar or trying to turn banana bread into a protein bar. We’re making really delicious chocolate chunk banana bread that happens to have a few nutrient-dense ingredients added to it.

Why You’ll Love This Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

This recipe checks all of my banana bread boxes:

• Super moist and tender
• Uses three whole bananas – the ones that are sitting on your counter that you’d thought you’d eat before they turned brown, but didn’t.
• Filled with chunks of chocolate – this hits differently than chocolate chips for some reason.
• Made with simple ingredients
• Greek yogurt or skyr adds protein and helps keep the bread moist
• Ground flaxseed adds a little extra fiber and nutrition
• Easy enough for kids to help make
• Freezer-friendly for breakfasts and snacks

As a pediatric dietitian and mom, I love recipes that kids can actually participate in making. Banana bread is especially great because there are plenty of jobs for little hands, from peeling and mashing bananas to stirring the batter and, of course, adding the chocolate chunks.

The Secret to Really Moist Banana Bread

There isn’t just one ingredient doing all the work here.

This recipe combines very ripe bananas, Greek yogurt or skyr, butter and brown sugar, which all contribute to the soft, moist texture.

Greek yogurt is especially useful in quick breads because it adds moisture without making the batter overly thin. Skyr works well for the same reason.

The other secret? Don’t overmix your batter.

Once you add the flour, stir only until everything is combined. A few lumps are completely fine. Mixing until your batter is perfectly smooth can result in a tougher loaf.

And finally, don’t overbake it. Start checking your banana bread toward the lower end of the baking range rather than automatically leaving it in for the full 65 minutes.

Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this moist chocolate chunk banana bread.

Bananas

You’ll need 3 very ripe bananas, or about 1¼ to 1½ cups mashed. The riper the bananas, the sweeter and more pronounced the banana flavor will be. Look for bananas that are soft with plenty of brown spots.

Butter

Use ½ cup melted butter. Butter adds moisture, richness, and flavor to the banana bread. I like using melted butter here because there’s no need to wait for butter to soften or pull out a mixer.

Brown Sugar

You’ll need ½ cup packed brown sugar. Brown sugar adds sweetness while also helping create that soft, moist texture we’re going for.

Granulated Sugar

Use ¼ cup granulated sugar. Using a combination of brown and granulated sugar gives the bread plenty of sweetness while keeping the texture soft and tender.

Eggs

You’ll need 2 large eggs. Eggs provide structure and help bind all of the ingredients together.

Greek Yogurt or Skyr

Use ½ cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt or skyr. This is one of my favorite additions to the recipe because it helps keep the banana bread incredibly moist while also adding some protein and calcium.

Either Greek yogurt or skyr works well, so use whichever you already have or prefer.

Vanilla Extract

You’ll need 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Vanilla enhances the sweetness and complements both the banana and chocolate flavors.

All-Purpose Flour

Use 1¾ cups all-purpose flour. Regular all-purpose flour gives this banana bread a soft, tender texture without making it overly dense.

For the best results, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off rather than scooping directly from the bag, which can pack in too much flour.

Ground Flaxseed

Add 2 tablespoons ground or milled flaxseed. Ground flaxseed adds some fiber and ALA omega-3 fatty acids without significantly changing the taste or texture of the banana bread.

You can leave it out if you don’t have any. There’s no need to replace it with another ingredient.

Baking Soda

You’ll need 1 teaspoon baking soda to help the banana bread rise and give it a lighter texture.

Salt

Add ½ teaspoon salt. A little salt helps balance the sweetness and brings out the flavors of the banana, vanilla and chocolate.

Cinnamon

Use ½ teaspoon cinnamon for a little warmth without overpowering the banana flavor. If your family really loves cinnamon, you can increase this to 1 teaspoon.

Chocolate Chunks

You’ll need ¾ cup chocolate chunks, plus a few extra for sprinkling over the top if you’d like.

I love chocolate chunks in this recipe because they create bigger pockets of melted chocolate throughout the bread. Semisweet chocolate is a great option, but milk or dark chocolate works too.

Chocolate chips can also be substituted using the same amount if that’s what you have on hand. Or you can leave them out completely if you’d like.

How to Make Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

Prepare Your Loaf Pan

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan or line it with parchment paper. This recipe makes 2 shorter loaves of chocolate chunk banana bread, or one taller loaf.

Mash the Bananas

Add three very ripe bananas to a large mixing bowl and mash them well with a fork or potato masher.

This is one of my favorite jobs to hand over to kids. There is basically no way to mess it up.

Add the Wet Ingredients

Stir the melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar into the mashed bananas.

Add the eggs, Greek yogurt or skyr and vanilla. Whisk until everything is well combined.

Add the Dry Ingredients

Add the flour, ground flaxseed, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

Gently stir until you no longer see streaks of dry flour. Don’t worry about getting the batter perfectly smooth.

Fold in the Chocolate Chunks

Gently fold the chocolate chunks into the banana bread batter.

I like to save a small handful to sprinkle over the top. Besides adding a little extra chocolate, it makes the finished loaf look really good.

Bake the Banana Bread

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and sprinkle additional chocolate chunks over the top. Again, you can make two shorter loaves, or one taller loaf.

Bake for approximately 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out without wet batter. A few moist crumbs or a little melted chocolate are perfectly fine.

If the top starts browning before the center is finished, loosely cover the loaf with aluminum foil for the remainder of the baking time.

Let It Cool

Let the banana bread cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before removing it.

For the best texture and easiest slicing, give it a little more time to cool before cutting into it.

Or don’t. Warm chocolate chunk banana bread is pretty hard to argue with.

Why Add Greek Yogurt to Banana Bread?

Greek yogurt is one of the ingredients that helps make this banana bread so moist.

Its thick consistency adds moisture to the batter without making it overly thin. It also contributes protein, calcium and other nutrients.

Skyr works beautifully here, too. It’s also a thick, cultured dairy product and can be swapped for Greek yogurt using the same amount.

You can use plain or vanilla Greek yogurt or skyr. If you’re using a flavored variety, keep in mind that it may contain some added sugar and make your finished loaf slightly sweeter.

A Pediatric Dietitian’s Take on “Healthy” Banana Bread

You’ll notice I’m not calling this a healthy banana bread recipe.

That’s intentional.

Banana bread doesn’t need to be low-sugar, high-protein, made entirely with whole grains and packed with superfoods to have a place in your family’s kitchen.

Instead, I tend to think about nutrition by addition.

What can we add that provides nutrition without sacrificing the reason we’re making the food in the first place?

In this recipe, Greek yogurt or skyr provides some additional protein and calcium. Bananas provide carbohydrates, potassium and other nutrients. Ground flaxseed contributes fiber and ALA omega-3 fatty acids.

And the butter, sugar and chocolate chunks help make it taste like really good banana bread.

Those things can coexist.

Especially with kids, I don’t want every familiar food turned into the most nutrient-dense version possible. Food also gets to taste good.

Why Add Ground Flaxseed to Banana Bread?

Ground flaxseed is one of those ingredients that’s incredibly easy to add to foods your family already eats.

It provides fiber as well as alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA, a plant-based omega-3 fatty acid.

I use just two tablespoons in this recipe.

More isn’t necessarily better. Adding a large amount of flaxseed can change the texture and flavor of your banana bread. Two tablespoons gives us the nutrition addition without turning our beautifully moist banana bread into a dense loaf that everyone politely avoids.

Be sure to use ground or milled flaxseed rather than whole flaxseeds. Grinding the seeds makes their nutrients easier for our bodies to access.

Chocolate Chunks vs. Chocolate Chips

Either will work, but they give you a slightly different finished loaf.

Chocolate chunks create those bigger pockets of melted chocolate throughout the banana bread, which is why they’re my first choice for this recipe.

Chocolate chips are smaller, distribute more evenly throughout the batter and tend to hold their shape a little more during baking.

You can use semisweet, milk or dark chocolate depending on what your family prefers. You can also chop up a chocolate bar and use the pieces as homemade chocolate chunks.

There really isn’t a wrong answer here. We’re talking about chocolate.

How Ripe Should Bananas Be?

This is one situation where the sad bananas sitting on your counter are exactly what you want.

Look for bananas that are very soft with lots of brown spots. Fully brown bananas can also work as long as they haven’t spoiled.

As bananas ripen, some of their starches are converted to sugars, giving them a sweeter flavor and making them softer and easier to incorporate into the batter.

If your bananas are still yellow or slightly green, give them some time. Your chocolate chunk banana bread will thank you.

Need to Ripen Bananas Faster?

Place bananas in a brown paper bag and loosely close the top to help speed up ripening. Need them today? Bake unpeeled bananas at 300°F for 15 to 30 minutes, until the peels darken and the bananas soften. Let them cool before using.

Making Banana Bread With Kids

Banana bread is one of my favorite recipes to make with kids because there are so many ways they can participate.

Depending on their age and abilities, kids can help peel and mash the bananas, measure ingredients, crack eggs, pour ingredients into the bowl, stir the batter or sprinkle chocolate chunks over the top.

And as a pediatric dietitian, I also love cooking together because food exposure isn’t limited to eating.

Kids are learning about food when they touch it, smell it, measure it, mash it and watch ingredients transform into something completely different.

A child doesn’t have to enthusiastically eat every ingredient for the experience to “count.” Simply getting involved in the kitchen can help build familiarity and confidence around food.

Plus, if your kid is in charge of the chocolate chunks, prepare for some quality-control sampling.

Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread Variations

Once you have the basic recipe down, there are plenty of ways to make it your own.

Chocolate chip banana bread: Swap the chocolate chunks for an equal amount of semisweet, milk or dark chocolate chips.

Chocolate walnut banana bread: Add about ½ cup chopped walnuts along with the chocolate chunks.

Chocolate pecan banana bread: Fold in ½ cup chopped pecans.

Extra cinnamon: Increase the cinnamon to 1 teaspoon.

Mini chocolate chip banana bread: Use mini chocolate chips for little bits of chocolate throughout every slice.

You can also use the batter to make muffins. Because muffins bake much faster than a loaf, start checking them around 18 to 22 minutes.

How to Store and Freeze Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

Once the loaf has completely cooled, store your banana bread in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2 days. For longer storage, you can keep it in the refrigerator.

Banana bread can also be frozen, and I prefer freezing it in individual slices rather than as an entire loaf.

Place pieces of parchment paper between the slices and store them in a freezer-safe container or bag. Then you can grab exactly what you need for breakfast, a lunchbox addition or an after-school snack.

This is also one of the reasons I love using the freezer as a family feeding tool. Having foods ready to grab can make busy days easier and can help prevent perfectly good food from being forgotten until it’s past its prime.

Frequently Asked Questions