Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe

fingers picking up a slice of dark brown gluten free chocolate banana bread on white paper

5 from 32 votes

This gluten free chocolate banana bread combines cocoa powder and melted chocolate for deep flavor and rich, fudgy texture, with ripe banana in every slice.

Prep Time15

Cook Time55

Cooling time55

Course: Quick bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten free chocolate chip banana bread

Servings: slices

Author: Nicole Hunn

Ingredients

3 ounces dark chocolate or unsweetened chocolate (See Recipe Notes)
5 tablespoons (70 g) unsalted butter chopped
⅜ cup (30 g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 ¾ cups (245 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (See Recipe Notes)
¾ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (200 g) mashed ripe bananas from about 2 medium bananas
¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
⅓ cup (85 g) sour cream at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 (100 g out of shell) eggs at room temperature (See Recipe Notes)
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
¼ cup (50 g) chopped ripe banana optional

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a standard 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan and line it with parchment paper. Set it aside.
If using a bar of chocolate, first chop it into irregular pieces. In a medium-size, heat-safe bowl, place the chopped chocolate and butter. In the microwave in 30-second bursts, or over a simmering pot of hot water, melt until smooth. Set aside to cool briefly.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, place the mashed bananas, granulated sugar, sour cream, vanilla, eggs and melted butter and chocolate mixture. Beat on medium speed with a handheld mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment) to combine (about 2 minutes).
Add the dry ingredients, and beat on medium speed to combine. The batter will be very thick, and will climb up the beaters if you're using a handheld mixer.
Add the chocolate chips and the optional chopped banana, and use a silicone spatula to fold into the batter until they’re evenly distributed throughout.
Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan, and smooth into an even layer in the pan.
For a uniform rise, use a small, sharp knife to slash the center of the batter from one short side to another, about 1/4-inch deep.
Place the loaf pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Rotate 180° and continue to bake until the loaf is firm to the touch on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about another 25 minutes. If you're worried that the loaf is starting to burn, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F until baked through.
If you’ve added the additional chopped banana, the baking time will probably need to be increased by about 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack, remove the paper liner, and allow to cool completely (about 45 minutes).
Slice into 10 pieces crosswise, and serve.

Video

Notes

Melting chocolate

Try to use a chocolate with higher cacao butter content, about 65%, that is made for melting fully and using in baking. It can be unsweetened or dark chocolate, or even semi-sweet if it's a baking bar made to melt fully.

Flour blend recommendations

I suggest using Better Batter's original blend gluten free flour without added xanthan gum, Nicole's Best multipurpose blend with xanthan gum as listed in the recipe, or Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour with an additional ½ teaspoon xanthan gum to avoid crumbly bread.

For full details including how to make your own “mock” Better Batter or original Cup4Cup, see my gluten free flour blends guide.

Eggs

You can successfully make this loaf with 1 or 2 eggs. Two eggs makes a taller loaf with a bit more structure that slices a bit more cleanly.

Nutrition