Test Kitchen's Favorite Banana-Chocolate Chip Bread

Prep Time:
15 mins
Total Time:
2 hrs
Yield:
1 9-by- inch loaf

Freezing and thawing over-ripe bananas before mashing creates a syrupy-thick juice, more like liquid gold, that bursts with sweet banana flavor and makes this loaf next-level delicious.

Ingredients

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan

  • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

  • 1 cup sugar

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

  • ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 3 over-ripe bananas, preferably frozen and thawed, mashed (1 ½ cups)

  • 3 large eggs, room temperature

  • cup buttermilk

  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush a standard 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with butter and dust with flour, tapping out excess.

  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, and cinnamon, 30 seconds. In another bowl, whisk together butter, bananas, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla until smooth. Make a well in flour mixture and pour banana mixture into it. Stir together until mostly combined but some dry flour remains. Add chocolate chips and continue stirring just until evenly distributed throughout and no dry flour remains (do not overmix). Transfer to prepared pan.

  3. Bake until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour, 10 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes, then transfer loaf to a wire rack and let cool completely. Bread can be stored at room temperature, wrapped in parchment-lined foil, up to 3 days.

    banana chocolate chip bread
    Marcus Nilsson

Cook's Notes

Over-ripe bananas should be totally brown, slightly soft, and fragrant. You can also freeze them (in their skins) for up to six months. Let thaw completely, then pop them open from the stem end and squeeze the flesh and any juices directly into a bowl.

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