Think of this recipe as a cross between your very favorite banana bread and a crowd-pleasing blackout cake. Whole wheat flour lends a nuttiness to the cake, but feel free to replace it with more all-purpose if that’s what you have on hand.
Ingredients
Makes one 9x5" loaf
¾
½
⅓
1¼
¾
1
5
1
6
2
⅓
1
4
1
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly coat a 9x5" loaf pan with nonstick spray. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper, leaving a generous overhang on long sides.
Step 2
Whisk all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
Step 3
Mash 4 bananas with a potato masher or fork in a medium bowl until smooth. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed (or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), beat brown sugar and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl if needed. Reduce speed to medium-low, add sour cream, vanilla, and mashed bananas; beat until combined. The mixture may look grainy and broken at this point, but don’t fret! It will emulsify when the dry ingredients are added.
Step 4
Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated (do not overmix or cake will become tough). Fold in chocolate.
Step 5
Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Slice remaining banana lengthwise into 3 equally thick planks and place on top of cake, cut sides up. Sprinkle batter, as well as bananas, with demerara sugar.
Step 6
Bake cake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean (there may be some melted chocolate residue left on the tester, which is fine), 65–75 minutes.
Step 7
Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool completely. Using parchment overhang, lift cake from pan and serve.
Leave a Review
Reviews (36)
Back to TopThis recipe is really good. I substituted creme fraiche for sour cream, and omitted choc chips , otherwise I followed the recipe. I sliced the bananas very thinly and baked in the Bundt tin of similar size. Cake turned out moist, flavorful and the sliced bananas caramelised beautifully. Thank you for the great recipe.
Teck
Singapore
6/30/2021
I swapped sour milk for the sour cream (didn't have any), and cut the sugar because I almost always cut the sugar. The batter was a little liquid for me (maybe because of sour milk) so I added a bit more flour to compensate. These are good, but not mind blowing. I will likely go back to my standard banana bread recipe and add cocoa and chocolate chips next time.
Anonymous
Ottawa, Canada
6/10/2021
Absolutely brilliant. I could have it for dessert. I swapped the whole wheat for Finger millet flour as I had that around and was feeling experimental. That rendered it even more a deeper colour and nutty texture. Also swapped sour cream for yogurt. This is a keeper for sure!
Karen
India
3/12/2021
So good. I subbed buttermilk for the sour cream and swapped in 1/4 cup of buckwheat flour. Super delicious. I’m gonna skip the banana on top next time — it sank into the cake and was kinda weird. Demerara on top added awesome crunch.
chelseamorse
Astoria, NY
7/13/2020
This was so good! It turned out exactly how I wanted it. I skipped the bananas on top because I didn't have 5 ripe bananas only 4. I also didn't have demerara sugar so I just sprinkled a little brown sugar over the top. Super delish!
Anonymous
Minnesota
6/10/2020
If Molly doesn't like chocolate how did she develop this recipe?
Anonymous
Minneapolis, MN
6/10/2020
This recipe is a winner! Easy to make, and it tastes wonderful. I have also made the Alison Roman chocolate banana bread but prefer this recipe. They seem similar on the page, but AR's turns out dry and crumbly for me.
Anonymous
Indianapolis
5/27/2020
Scrumptious! Make this recipe. Made exactly as is(except sugar on top), wouldn't bother with the banana on top, chocolate chips or parchment. will be making this often...
Anonymous
5/6/2020
Insane knock out. I used a very dark, molassesy brown sugar from Japan that gave it a slightly coffee complex bitterness. Here I come, quarantine 15.
CGJ LA
Los Angeles, CA
4/4/2020
I think you ripped this off from Alison Roman
Anonymous
Brooklyn
3/24/2020
The whole wheat flour is what really makes this, so I would definitely try not to skip it. I think it's still a little heavy on the chocolate; next time I make it, I'm skipping the demerara sugar and the chocolate chips (and for reference, I'm someone who gets annoyed when most people refer to things as 'too sweet' as I have an aggressive sweet tooth), but I'll definitely make it again. I do have to laugh about the fact that my sliced bananas on top sunk completely into the cake. I actually really liked that; I tried it while still warm and had a little molten banana, THERE'S a new thing. But it definitely takes away from the nice visual aspect if, like me, you rely upon instagram likes to offset the caloric intake of your bakes.
Anonymous
San Francisco
3/15/2020
This was excellent. I made half a batch and put it in an 8x8 pan, which made it only take about 40, 45 minutes. I omiited the demerara sugar since we didn't have any; in my opinion, it's unnecessary because it was perfect without it. I also didn't have wheat flour so I used 1 cup white flour and 1/4 cup wheat germ. Lastly, I topped it with several round slices instead of lengthwise slices. This recipe is a keeper for me.
Anonymous
currently living in S. Korea
2/28/2020
I made this a few weeks ago and it was amazing. Having read the comments, and since I only have an 8.5" pan, I made a "sidecar" cake in a small loaf pan (maybe a 4"x3"x2" pan?), which was perfect. It is more like a cake than a bread, definitely dessert-y. I have made Alison Roman's chocolate banana bread, too, and though the ingredients and preparation are very similar, I liked this one much more.
Anonymous
NYC
1/13/2020
This banana bread is easy and delicious! My only negative feedback is that even though I used a 9x5 loaf pan, a lot of the batter spilled over the edges while baking. Luckily I thought it looked a bit too full before putting it in the oven so I put it on top of a sheet pan, which contained the mess. I'll definitely make this again regardless!
Anonymous
Boston
1/13/2020
Awesome recipe. For any other non Americans I have the ingredients with metric conversion: ¾ cup all-purpose flour + ½ cup whole wheat flour so 1 and 1/4 (150g) ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (42g) 1¼ teaspoons baking soda ¾ teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon kosher salt 5 large very ripe bananas, divided 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar (224g) 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (86g) 2 large eggs ⅓ cup sour cream (80g) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (114g) 1 tablespoon demerara sugar
Anonymous
1/5/2020