Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Bread

Prep Time : 15 minutes

Cook Time : 55 minutes

This simple, rich recipe for gluten free chocolate banana bread with chocolate chips gets its most gentle sweetness from bananas, and its rich chocolate flavor from melted chocolate and cocoa powder.

Jump to Recipe

Gluten free chocolate chip banana bread, with plenty of melted chocolate and cocoa, plus sour cream and of course plenty of bananas.

Why you’ll love this recipe for gluten free chocolate banana bread

This bread tastes richly of both chocolate and bananas, with neither taste overpowering the other. The crumb is moist and tender, and just sweet enough.

If you love chocolate and bananas, don’t just throw some chocolate chips in ‘regular’ banana bread. Go all the way with this recipe. Go big or go home!

The marriage of chocolate and bananas is just such a blessed union. To develop this recipe, I began with my recipe for one-bowl gluten free banana bread. Often, I can develop a chocolate version of something by replacing some of the butter with melted chocolate and finding a way to sneak in some cocoa powder.

Not this time! I tried a simple swap of ingredients like that, and it was a disaster. The recipe failed so badly that it simply wouldn’t bake all the way through without positively burning on the outside.

Recipe ingredient notes:

• Unsweetened chocolate: We use this type of chocolate because it adds a ton of rich, chocolate flavor without adding any sugar. That allows us to control the amount of sugar precisely.
• Butter: Butter adds richness, some moisture, and lots of flavor and tenderness. Unsalted butter allows us to control the precise amount of salt in this recipe.
• Bananas: Use the ripest bananas you can find, and measure them by weight so you’re certain that you’re using exactly the right amount, mashed. You can add some chopped, ripe bananas like you do chocolate chips, but it’s truly optional.
• Sugar: Regular white granulated sugar is a sweetener and a tenderizer.
• Sour cream: Sour cream adds a lot less moisture than buttermilk would, and adds richness and makes this chocolate banana bread very tender.
• Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract adds depth of flavor to this quick bread, and since we associate the aroma with sweetness, it makes the bread taste a touch sweeter without adding more sugar.
• Egg: This recipe calls for only one egg, which acts a binder and helps the bread rise.
• Cocoa powder: You can use Dutch-processed cocoa powder (richer, deeper flavor) or natural cocoa powder (some acidity, still lovely chocolate flavor), as long as it’s unsweetened cocoa powder.
• Gluten free flour blend: I used Better Batter’s classic all purpose gluten free flour blend here, since it has just the right balance of ingredients to make the perfect chocolate banana cake.
• Baking powder: Double-acting baking powder is activated once when it’s hydrated in the batter, and again when the bread is put in the oven. Be sure yours is fresh!
• Baking soda: Baking soda helps with caramelization and neutralizes any acidity from the sour cream and any natural cocoa powder if you’re using that.
• Salt: You don’t need a lot, but you cannot bake without salt to balance and enhance other flavors. I always use kosher salt, which is very common in baking, because it’s easier to avoid overmeasuring it.
• Chocolate chips: This banana chocolate chip bread has a few chocolate chips to add some texture, and to intensify the chocolate flavor. If you’d prefer to make it without chocolate chips, try using a different flavor of chip or even chopped soft nuts like walnuts or pecans.

How to make gf banana chocolate chip bread

First, melt the chopped unsweetened chocolate and butter. You can do that in a heat-safe bowl over a double boiler, or in a heat-safe bowl in the microwave, on reduced power in 30-second intervals. The microwave creates hot spots, so be sure to stir in between spins in the microwave, so the heat is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

Second, mix the remaining wet ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. That includes the mashed bananas, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and sour cream, and the beaten egg. Mix in the melted chocolate and butter next, until well-combined.

Next, add the dry ingredients (cocoa powder, gluten free flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt) to the mixing bowl, and mix. Then the chocolate chips. The batter will be thick.

Finally, transfer the batter to a prepared loaf pan, and bake until done. Cool, slice, and serve!

Tips, tricks & FAQs

Don’t overmix your chocolate banana bread batter

Gluten free chocolate banana bread doesn’t have any gluten to overwork, of course, but that doesn’t mean that overmixing won’t cause it to become dense. Gluten free breads and cakes that are overworked tend to become a bit rubbery, so stop mixing once your batter is properly combined.

Why is my gluten free chocolate chip banana bread dense?

Quick breads are more like muffins than they are cakes, and they are meant to have a more dense crumb. It should still be moist and tender, though, even though it will be somewhat tighter. If your banana bread seems tough, not tender, here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Did you measure your ingredients properly? If you overmeasured your gf flour and undermeasured the wet ingredients, your quick bread will be dense.
• Did you bake in an oven that was too hot? Most ovens run hot (mine included) so I always use a standalone oven thermometer as my guide, and replace it often.
• Did you overbake your banana bread? Any baked goods that keep baking after they’re done will dry out.

Be sure that your baking powder and baking soda haven’t expired

If your chemical leaveners are out of date, they won’t activate when they’re hydrated the way they are meant to be. If you only have baking soda but not baking powder that’s fresh, try making your own baking powder from baking soda by adding one part baking soda to two parts cream of tartar.

Should I use natural or Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder?

You can use either Dutch-processed cocoa powder or natural cocoa powder in this chocolate banana bread recipe. The natural cocoa powder is more acidic, but the acidity will be neutralized sufficiently by the baking soda in the recipe.

Use a properly balanced, high-quality all purpose gluten free flour blend

I used Better Batter’s classic gluten free flour blend in this recipe, measured by weight, because I find that it gives the most consistent results of anything on the market. You can make your own “mock” Better Batter blend using my recipe, or use something else, but I’m afraid I can’t promise results!

Use a light-colored loaf pan made from cast aluminum

My favorite loaf pans are nonstick pans made of cast aluminum, that are light in color. Darker colored pans attract too much heat, so the outside tends to burn before the banana cake is baked all the way through. Avoid baking in glass loaf pans, as they retain too much heat and have a tendency to burn baked goods.

Use naturally-ripened bananas

You can help bananas ripen somewhat more quickly by placing them in a paper bag with an apple. You cannot successfully ripen bananas by baking them in the oven, which will blacken the peel but not actually develop the sugars in the bananas.

So you don’t get caught without ripe bananas, when you have some you aren’t ready to use, peel, chop, and freeze them. Store them in a freezer-safe container or zip-top bag until ready to use. Then defrost gently in the microwave at low power or at room temperature before baking with them.

Gluten free banana chocolate chip bread: ingredients and substitutions

Gluten free egg free banana chocolate chip bread

Since there is only one egg in the whole loaf, you can try a “chia egg,” and let us know how it goes.

Gluten free dairy free banana chocolate chip bread

For dairy free, nondairy sour cream and vegan butter (Melt or Miyoko’s Kitchen are my favorite brands) should work.

Storing and reheating gluten free chocolate banana bread

This banana bread can be stored, wrapped tightly, at room temperature for 2 or 3 days. For longer storage, avoid refrigerating the bread since that tends to be drying. Instead, place each individually wrapped slice in the freezer for at least 3 months.

To reheat this banana bread, defrost each slice gently in a low power microwave oven or at room temperature. To refresh to like-new texture, sprinkle the defrosted bread lightly with water and place in a 300°F toaster oven until warm.