If you love chocolate and bananas this Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread is the best! An indulgent chocolatey bread with a hint of banana and melty chocolate chips in each bite is insanely delicious! Welcome to your new favorite chocolate bread… or should we say banana bread?

chocolate espresso banana bread sliced on a cooling rack

This bread contains espresso powder which doesn’t actually add an espresso flavor but it enhances the chocolate flavor in the bread. If you add a larger amount of espresso powder then it could provide an actual hint of espresso flavor but it is mostly used in smaller amounts to give the chocolate an extra punch.

Have a sweet tooth? Check out Orange Poppy Seed Bread, Strawberry Cheesecake Bars, Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie, Hot Chocolate Cookies or Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Ingredients you’ll need

Bananas
Brown Sugar
Granulated Sugar
Olive oil
Eggs
Vanilla Extract
Sour Cream
Cocoa Powder
All Purpose Flour
Baking Soda
Kosher Salt
Espresso Powder
Dark Chocolate Chips
Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

all ingredients gathered together and ready to go

Tips for making the best Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread

Do not over mix the batter. This will cause the bread to dry out or become dense
Use very ripe bananas aka LOTS of brown spots or mostly black
Don’t sub out the oil for butter. When working with cocoa it’s best to use oil to keep the moisture in the bread
You can sub Greek yogurt for the sour cream if desired
Chocolate chips, feves or chunks will work just fine
Feel free to use whatever type of chocolate you like best. If you only like dark then use 1 full cup of dark chocolate. If you prefer bitter sweet over semi sweet then use that
Let the bread cool all the way before cutting
You can lightly toss the chocolate chips in flour before folding them into the batter to help keep them from sinking in the bread. It’s not necessary but an option

a stack of chocolate espresso banana bread slices with powdered sugar being sprinkled on top of it

What is espresso powder?

Espresso powder is a coffee bean that has been darkly roasted, ground, brewed, dried then ground again into a fine powder. It’s extremely concentrated. It’s mainly used as a secret ingredient to make your chocolate recipes taste more chocolatey.

Only a small amount is needed to boost that extra chocolate flavor. It really doesn’t add any coffee flavor to your recipe but using a larger amount would get that effect. Espresso powder can be used in virtually any chocolate recipe to help enhance the chocolate flavor.

I’ve used it in cakes, frostings, breads and cookies. It’s an optional ingredient when added to a recipe meaning it’s not necessary for the recipe to turn out but does add more depth of flavor. I personally like to use King Arthur Espresso Powder.

I prefer to order espresso powder right off of Amazon and have it shipped directly to my house. Easy peasy.

For additional info on espresso powder check out King Arthur’s info on it https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com/items/espresso-powder

a slice of chocolate bread being pulled from the stack

How to make moist chocolate banana bread

Banana bread is usually pretty moist because of the bananas in it but when adding cocoa powder that can quickly change. Cocoa is a drying ingredient and a few things need to be adjusted. The flour and the type of fat.

Since the cocoa powder will absorb liquid just like flour does, you should use a little less flour. If not, your bread could taste like chocolate but be very dry.

The other thing you should check is what type of fat you’re using. Oil works better with cocoa than butter. The oil will help keep the bread more moist than the butter will. The chocolate flavor is intense enough that it would over power the flavor of the butter anyway so you’re not missing anything by leaving it out.

one hand holding up a slice of bread on top of a stack of slices

How to keep your chocolate chips from sinking in your bread

When you add chocolate chips to bread they have a tendency to sink while baking. The same thing happens when adding blueberries to batter but there is a way to keep this from happening!

Toss the chocolate chips (or blueberries) in a small amount of flour, just enough to coat them, immediately before adding them to the batter. I remember when I first learned this I thought “well what magic”!

This is totally not a necessary step but if you don’t want all the chocolate sinking to the bottom of the bread it’s a great idea! This will ensure you get chocolate chip in every bite of your Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread.

one slice of banana bread being served off the top of the stack

How long does Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread last?

Wrapped tightly, Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread will last for 3 days on the counter. If you choose to refrigerate the chocolate bread, it will last 5-6 days wrapped tightly. It never lasts that long around my house though because we can’t stop eating it!

How to make Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread

Making this Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread is pretty straight forward and easy. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a loaf pan.

You can start by whisking the dry ingredients together in a bowl then setting it aside. The dry ingredients consist of flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder.

Then in a medium sized bowl with an electric mixer or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment you can mix the oil and both sugars until smooth.

Add one egg at a time mixing just until incorporated and scraping the bowl down after each addition. Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix just until incorporated. Mash the bananas and fold them in as well.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet just until almost fully incorporated. A few streaks of flour mixture is just fine. Toss all but a handful of the chocolate chips in a light dusting of flour then fold them into the batter. Do not over mix.

chocolate espresso banana bread batter poured into a loaf pan

Pour the Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread batter into the greased loaf pan and top with the reserved handful of chocolate chips then 2 thin slices of banana. Bake at 350°F for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or only with a few crumbs.

the loaf right after being pulled out of the oven with bruleed bananas on top

Once the bread is out of the oven you have the option to sprinkle 1 tsp of granulated sugar on top of the 2 banana slices then brulee them with a kitchen torch. This causes the sugar to melt and essentially burn on top of the bananas to make a crispy sugar crust that is delicious.

Let bread cool for 20 minutes, remove it from the pan and let it cool the rest of the way to room temp. Slice, serve and enjoy!

If you make this Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread recipe I would love it if you would leave me a rating and/or a review. I’d also love if you’d tag me in any Instagram photos when making this or any other recipe of mine! I love to see what everyone is making!

Looking for more quick bread recipes? Check out my Orange Poppy Seed Bread recipe!

If you make this Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread please leave me a rating and/or review!

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Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread