Double Chocolate Banana Bread (Eggless)

This banana bread is absolutely addictive but if you can, don’t eat it all on day one, it gets better the next day! A double chocolate version of this reader-favourite eggless banana bread, this one has cocoa and plenty of chocolate chunks to satisfy all cravings. It’s moist and flavourful thanks to the olive oil and even without eggs, has a great texture. It’s also really easy to make!

I used to have a fudgy version of this cake here a long time ago, but much, much prefer this one. Neither flavour dominates, it’s as chocolatey as it is banana-y, and is perfect for dessert, teatime or even breakfast because fruit, right? I made this cake three times before finally sharing it here because I kept mixing up the measurements and landing up with different results each time. I’m so pleased with this final version though!

The cake is best eaten after it cools completely because of course it will break if you slice it warm, but it also has the most flavour once it’s cooled down. In fact, I store it in the fridge and actually love eating it straight from there, it’s moist even once refrigerated and somehow more delicious. Make sure you use bananas that are very ripe, overripe really because that’s when this cake is most flavourful. The overripe bananas also add sweetness which you’ll miss with just ripe ones.

The chocolate chunks form gooey, melty pockets in every bite and the balance between the dark chocolate and fruity banana is just perfect. I prefer chunks here over chips, they’re more….chunky and somehow far more satisfying when you really want a good dose of chocolate. But chips are great too!

Ok, make this and tell me how you like it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Double Chocolate Banana Bread (Eggless)

Soft and moist eggless chocolate banana bread with cocoa and lots of chocolate chunks

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 50 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Makes: 10 slices

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

  

• 4 medium-sized overripe bananas (400 to 500 gms)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, light or dark (160 gms)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (80 ml) (for a nicer flavour, but regular vegetable oil is ok too)
• 1/2 cup whole milk, at room temperature (125 ml)
• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (180 gms; see notes)
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (20 gms)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 115 gms dark chocolate (55% cocoa), coarsely chopped (or 1 cup chocolate chips)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 175 C and line a 9x5 inch loaf tin with non-stick baking paper, leaving an overhang for easy removal. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas very well. Add the brown sugar, vanilla and olive oil. Whisk well until combined and smooth. A balloon whisk is great here.
• Pour in the milk and whisk again to combine. Now sift in the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Fold gently with a spatula to combine into a smooth, pourable but not runny batter (see photos below). If lumps remain, briefly whisk the batter to break them up but do not over mix.
• Stir in the chopped chocolate, reserving about 1/4 cup for the top.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothen the top and scatter the remaining chocolate chunks all over it.
• Bake for 50 to 55 minutes until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no wet batter. Let the cake cool in the tin for 30 minutes, then lift it out using the paper overhang and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
• Slice into 8 to 10 generous slice and dig in! This cake tastes even better the next day when the flavours are more pronounced. Store in an airtight tin at room temperature for 2 days, then transfer to the fridge for a week. In very hot and humid weather, I prefer to store fruit-based cakes in the fridge from day one itself. Happy baking!

Notes

Shop this recipe: Brown Sugar, Olive Oil, Cocoa, Dark Chocolate, Baking Paper

*Based on this classic eggless banana bread! While I used wholewheat flour in that recipe, I chose softer and lighter all-purpose for this chocolate version. Wholewheat will work here too, but I'd recommend a half and half mix of both and seeing how you like the texture before swapping wholewheat entirely. This is because cocoa has a drying effect and wholewheat flour also tends to create drier and denser products.

This post contains affiliate links.