Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread

My favourite classic, moist banana bread marbled with swirls of dark chocolate running throughout. What's not to love? This chocolate swirl banana bread makes a perfect sweet breakfast loaf or snack with a cup of coffee.

I've made this marbled banana bread so many times I've lost count. It's soft, dense, and moist as a good banana bread should be. It's perfect on its own even without the chocolate swirl but when there's an option for chocolate, always go for the chocolate.

Tips for making the best chocolate swirl banana bread

• Use very ripe bananas. Seriously, don't be afraid of letting your bananas get really, really brown and spotted. The riper the bananas, the sweeter and more moist your banana bread will be. If your bananas aren't ripe enough, put them in a bag in a warm place overnight or bake them with the skin on for 10 minutes.
• Use ingredients that are at room temperature. This includes the greek yogurt and eggs that normally come straight from the fridge. I like to leave my eggs in a bowl of very warm water for 3 minutes for a quick fix. This helps all the ingredients mix together in a homogenous way. For example, if there's something cold in the batter, the moment you add melted butter, it will solidify into chunks instead of incorporating smoothly.
• Work quickly once the chocolate has melted. The chocolate will harden as it cools, making it hard to swirl around. You should have your batter and loaf tin lined and ready to be filled so that you can just plop them in and get those beautiful swirls before popping your loaf into the oven.

How to make chocolate swirl banana bread

In a mixing bowl, mash the banana until there are only a few small chunks left, if you prefer. Add in the brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, butter, greek yogurt, and vanilla extract and whisk together until well combined.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add this flour mixture to the wet mixture and fold together with a spatula until just combined. Don't overmix. 

Separate out about 300g of batter into a separate small bowl and set aside.

In a small saucepan on low-medium heat or microwave, melt the dark chocolate. Pour the melted chocolate into the small bowl of batter that you separated out and quickly mix together.

You'll want to work quickly now as the chocolate batter will start to harden as the chocolate cools, making it harder to swirl.

Pour half of the banana bread batter into the baking tin and spoon blobs of chocolate batter on top. Repeat until you use up both batters. Use a chopstick or knife to swirl the batters together.

Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out almost clean. Let the banana bread cool for at least 10-15 minutes before removing from the baking tin and finish cooling on a wire rack.

How to store banana bread

This banana bread can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Other chocolate recipes to try

• Flourless Chocolate Cake
• No-Bake Millionaire's Shortbread Bars
• Earl Grey Hot Chocolate

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