My reader-favorite recipe for the best banana bread gets *fancy* with the addition of dark chocolate chips and raspberries. Each slice is incredibly moist, full of flavor, and bursting with sweet raspberries and chocolate in every bite. Enjoy a slice for a special breakfast treat or end your day on a high note with dark chocolate chip raspberry banana bread for dessert. A true anytime treat!
My recipes for banana bread and banana muffins are consistently in the top 10 most popular recipes on my website. And I mean top of the top… not just seasonally, not just of all my quick bread recipes or muffin recipes… I’m talking the favorite of more than 1,300 published recipes.
That sure says something!
When you have recipes that tasty, it only makes sense to create flavorful variations! And today’s dark chocolate raspberry version is one of my absolute favorites. (Like chocolate raspberry cake and banana bread combined. Swoon!)
All About Dark Chocolate Chip Raspberry Banana Bread
- Taste: Chocolate and berries are always an indulgent pairing, and taste unbelievable with the sweet, comforting notes of banana. A lovely trio!
- Texture: Thanks to a handful of powerhouse ingredients like mashed banana and Greek yogurt/sour cream, the bread is supremely moist with a tight crumb. Not quite as dense as lemon pound cake, but not quite as light as this chocolate chip loaf cake. Texture-wise, it’s situated perfectly in the middle.
- Time: Quick bread loaves typically take about an hour or more in the oven, and this loaf is no exception. However, all the prep leading up to bake time takes about 10 minutes—so most of the total time is hand-off.
Key Ingredients to Use & Why
- Butter: Creamed butter gives the loaf structure and melt-in-your-mouth buttery flavor.
- Sugar: Just enough to sweeten the bread (the bananas provide some sweetness too).
- Eggs: These bind the ingredients, and also add a little richness.
- Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream: Plain Greek yogurt helps guarantee a moist, dense loaf. I use it quite a bit in my bread and muffin recipes, like these lemon blueberry muffins.
- Mashed Bananas: You want 4 large, extra-spotty bananas for best flavor. Just like I recommend for my cinnamon swirl banana bread, too.
- Vanilla Extract, Salt, and Cinnamon: Little bits of each promise plenty of flavor enhancement.
- Flour: To maintain the intended texture, I recommend all-purpose flour. If you’re looking for a whole wheat recipe, try my healthier whole wheat banana bread and feel free to add raspberries and dark chocolate to that recipe.
- Baking Soda: Helps the bread rise.
- Dark Chocolate Chips: I love using dark chocolate with raspberries, but semi-sweet is also delicious. Whatever type of chocolate you enjoy in your chocolate chip cookies, you’ll love here as well.
- Raspberries: If you can, reach for fresh raspberries. Frozen raspberries will release extra moisture in the batter and leave the bread a light shade of pink, no matter how gently you incorporate them. If using frozen, do not thaw, and know that your bread may take a few minutes longer in the oven due to the added moisture.
Success Tip: Mashing the Bananas
I started doing this a while ago and it’s been a total game changer whenever I make recipes like banana chocolate chip breakfast cookies, chocolate banana muffins, or chocolate marble banana Bundt cake. Just use your mixer to mash bananas! Peel the bananas, place in your mixer’s bowl, and beat until mashed. Transfer them to another bowl, then use the same mixing bowl to cream the butter and sugar together and proceed with the recipe.
If you’d rather not use the mixer, just mash the bananas in a big bowl with a fork or even a potato masher. You need 2 cups (460g) of mashed ripe bananas, which is about 4 large bananas.
Can I Use Frozen Bananas in This Dark Chocolate Chip Raspberry Banana Bread?
Yes, and I do this often. Thaw the frozen bananas at room temperature. Drain off any excess liquid, mash the thawed and drained bananas, then use as instructed in the recipe below. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking. Try not to mash too much or else you’ll be left with 2 cups of banana-y liquid; some chunks are great.
Chocolate Chip Raspberry Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower-third position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Lowering the oven rack prevents the top of your bread from browning too much, too soon. Grease a metal 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then beat in the yogurt, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract until combined.
- With the mixer running on low speed, slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no flour pockets remain. Do not over-mix. Fold in the chocolate chips and floured raspberries.
- Pour and spread the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 60–75 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent the top from getting too brown. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs. This may be after 70 minutes depending on your oven, so begin checking every 5 minutes around the 60-minute mark.
- Remove banana bread from the oven and allow the bread to cool in the pan set on a wire rack for 1 hour. Remove bread from the pan and cool bread directly on the wire rack until ready to slice and serve.
- Cover and store banana bread at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Banana bread tastes best on day 2, after the flavors have settled together.
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