Love brownies? Love bananas? You’ll adore these chocolate banana brownies! They’re moist, chewy, fudgy, slightly cakey, and absolutely delicious.
Chocolate and banana make a delectable duo. Have you ever tried chocolate-dipped bananas? I love them, so I thought, why not apply that concept to a dessert? In addition to infusing banana flavor, the fruit keeps the brownies moist while encouraging that fudgy texture. If you prefer cakier brownies, don’t worry; these are a delightful combination. You’ll experience decadent, gooey, chocolatey bites, firmer, fudgier ones, and less dense areas reminiscent of a slice of chocolate cake.
Why You’ll Love Chocolate Banana Brownies
Easy to bake – Brownies are by far one of the easiest desserts to bake. There’s no need for the creaming of butter and sugar, which means you don’t have to whip out your trusty electric mixer. Just hand mix, pop them into the oven, bake, and cool. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
Simple, everyday ingredients – Flour, butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and bananas; you probably have all the ingredients for chocolate banana brownies in your kitchen right now.
Lots of chocolate – I took the chocolate factor a step further by adding chopped dark chocolate instead of solely using cocoa powder. Unlike chips, they fully melt in the batter as it bakes, creating pockets of melty chocolate goodness.
Reduces food waste – When you have overripe bananas that are 1-2 days away from ending up in the trash, mash them up and use them in these brownies instead.
They taste great cold – Have you ever eaten a cold brownie? Because, oh my, are they delicious. They firm up in the fridge and develop a denser texture that lies somewhere between chilled fudge and truffles, with some cake-like crumbs thrown in. It’s such a satisfying midnight snack.
Chocolate Banana Brownies Ingredients Notes
Flour – Specifically all-purpose, it helps bind the ingredients and contributes to the structure and texture of the brownies.
Banana – Ripe bananas are important since riper bananas are sweeter and more flavorful. As the fruits ripen, their starches convert to sugar.
Butter – Unsalted butter adds richness to the banana brownies with chocolate and creates that satisfying gooey quality.
Salt – A little salt is added to the banana brownie batter to enhance and balance the flavors. I also recommend finishing these brownies with flaked sea salt. The crisp flakes are a nice precursor to the chocolaty sweetness that awaits.
Cocoa powder – I used Dutch-processed in this recipe; however, natural cocoa is fine as well. The deep, dark color of Dutch-processed cocoa powder and mellower flavor work well here because the chocolate flavor doesn’t overpower the banana.
Dark chocolate – Use a high-quality baking bar instead of chips or morsels.
Refer to the recipe card below for a complete ingredients list with measurements.
How to Make Chocolate Banana Brownies
- Mix the dry: Sift the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl or whisk to break up any lumps.
- Whisk the wet: This includes the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Once well combined, mix in the mashed banana.
- Bring them both together: Add the dry ingredients to the wet as you fold until you have a uniform batter. Be careful not to overmix at this point, as overmixing can cause too much air in the batter, leading to a change in texture.
- Bake: Pop them into a 350-degree oven and bake until they are set on top and a tester inserted in the center comes out with fudgy crumbs. If the tester comes out clean, the brownies are overbaked.
- Cool and slice: Cooling is crucial for nice, clean slices.
Variations, Substitutions, and Cooking Tips
Go gluten-free – This is as easy as replacing the flour with gluten-free all-purpose flour. More often than not, the replacement ratio is 1:1.
Add nuts – Why not double the crunchy, crisp texture with slivered almonds? Almonds, plus flaked salt on top, would be super satisfying!
Use another cocoa powder – As mentioned, natural cocoa will work just fine in this recipe. Just keep in mind that it doesn’t offer as deep a color and has a more complex flavor, so the banana may be less apparent.
Butter the baking dish – A light coating of butter helps the parchment stick to the pan, resulting in brownies with a nice, neat border.
Watch closely when baking – This is to avoid overbaking. You don’t want brownies that look dry with a lot of cracks on the surface, as both are signs that they are overbaked.
Storage and Freezer Tips
Cool the banana brownies to room temperature and individually wrap them in plastic or stack them in an airtight container with a sheet of parchment paper in between each one to prevent them from sticking to each other. Once done, place the lid on the container and store the brownies at room temperature for 1-2 days or up to 4 days in the refrigerator. To keep banana brownies even longer, individually wrap them, place them in a freezer bag, and freeze them for a maximum of 3 months.
Chocolate Banana Brownies
Love brownies? Love bananas? You’ll adore these chocolate banana brownies! They’re moist, chewy, fudgy, slightly cakey, and absolutely delicious.
Ingredients
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup mashed ripe banana
- 4 ounces premium dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- Maldon flaked sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8x8 inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a bit of overhang for easy removal.
- Sift (or whisk) the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter and both types of sugar.
- Add the egg and vanilla, then continue to whisk until well combined.
- Whisk in the mashed banana.
- Switch to a rubber spatula or a large spoon, then gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet as you fold everything together. Stop once you have a soft, chocolatey batter with no streaks. Do not overmix.
- Fold in the chopped dark chocolate.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out with fudgy crumbs.
- Remove the brownies from the oven and immediately sprinkle with flaked sea salt, if using. Then, cool for 10 minutes before lifting them out of the pan and transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Slice and serve.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 304Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 152mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 2gSugar: 28gProtein: 3g
This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix.
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