Chocolate Chip Banana Bars are a simple & delicious ripe banana recipe that’s even better than banana bread! Great for breakfast, lunch and even dessert! Check out all the 5 star reviews- everyone raves about this easy banana bars!
Shared nearly 100,000 times on social media, this is the perfect banana recipe! See the 5⭐️ reviews below!
Best recipe to make when you have Ripe Bananas on the counter!
This recipe for Chocolate Chip Banana Bars is my favorite banana recipe ever. They are delicious, filling, and perfect for breakfast, an afternoon snack or as dessert. I love that they have a ton of bananas in them. I like to bake a batch, cut them into squares and freeze them individually for when we’re on-the-go!
Why You’ll Love these Chocolate Chip Banana Bars
- Perfect use for ripe bananas! You’ll need 4 or 5 for this recipe, depending on the size. Tell me I’m not the only one who buys bananas week after week for them to disappear lightning fast. Then suddenly that stops…and you’ve got nearly a whole bunch on the counter ripening at an alarming rate. Ha!
- They’re easier to make than banana bread. Bakes faster & for some reason when they’re cut into squares everyone eats them faster than slices of bread. I’ve heard it time and time again!
- So incredibly versatile! Swap out some oil for applesauce. Use 1 less banana. Add in oats. Or peanut butter. Since posting these 5 years ago, I’ve made so many revisions! They’re all amazing!
Banana Chocolate Chip Bar ingredients
Here’s what you need to make our Chocolate Chip Banana Bars:
—BANANAS: 5 very ripe bananas (about 1 2/3 cup) – yes, you can use frozen bananas! Once you’re ready to use the frozen bananas, thaw them out slightly, then peel them and place the bananas in a bowl. Once they’re fully thawed, drain out the liquid and proceed with the recipe.
—SUGAR: You’ll use just 3/4 cup brown sugar. I opted to use brown sugar in place of white sugar as it’s sweeter due to the addition of molasses. Adds great flavor too!
—OIL: You need 1/4 cup oil for the banana bars. Canola, vegetable or coconut oil work the best. I’ve even gotten comments from people who’ve swapped out the oil for applesauce with great success!
—MILK: We add 1/4 cup milk for moisture. I most often use almond milk, but any type of milk except soy milk works well. (I find soy milk doesn’t bake well!)
—EGGS: You need 2 eggs for this recipe.
—DRY INGREDIENTS: You’ll need 1 3/4 cup flour. I regularly swap out all-purpose flour for whole wheat! You’ll also need 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp cinnamon for flavor and leavening.
—CHOCOLATE: We added 1 cup mini chocolate chips to the recipe in 2 parts. You’ll mix half into the batter and the other half you’ll sprinkle on top before baking. Adds just the right amount of sweetness!
How to make Chocolate Banana Bars
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 15×10.5″ pan with non-stick spray.
Peel bananas and mash well. Stir in brown sugar, oil, milk and eggs until combined.
Add in dry ingredients and stir. Fold in 1/2 the chocolate chips.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle remaining chips on top. Bake 18-22 minutes, until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool completely and cut into squares.
Yields 24 bars.
I like to make a batch, then cool, cut and freeze in individual baggies. Since they’re filling, they make a wonderful snack, breakfast or school lunch addition.
How can I ripen bananas quickly?
Ripe bananas are used in banana bread because they have a stronger, more pronounced flavor. There are several ways to help bananas ripen faster so that you can make banana bread. Here are my preferred methods:
- Ripen bananas in the oven. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place bananas peel and all on the parchment and bake for 30-40 minutes, until peels are black & shiny. Let cool 1 hour and proceed with banana bread recipe.
- Ripen bananas in a paper bag. If you have more time, place bananas in a paper bag with an apple. Fold and secure closed. I usually leave bananas like this for a full day, then proceed with the Banana Nut Bread recipe.
How to make Healthier Banana Bars
There are several things you can swap out in this recipe to make them healthier. Here are some ideas:
- I use brown sugar instead of regular granulated sugar to add more sweetness with less sugar. That being said, you can decrease the sugar to 1/2 cup. Just make sure you’re using VERY ripe bananas to add sweetness there.
- You can replace half or all of the oil with applesauce. I’m more of a fan of using half coconut oil and half applesauce, personally.
- Use almond or cashew milk in place of regular milk.
- Add in 2-3 TBSP of ground flax! No one will notice and it gives an added boost of fiber.
- Add veggies!! Seriously. Check out my double chocolate version of this recipe. I added cocoa powder and tons of ground spinach. No one can taste the difference and if you blend the spinach small enough (blending it with the coconut oil helps) you can’t see the difference either.
CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA BARS
Ingredients
- 5 very ripe bananas about 1 2/3 cup
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup oil any type- I use coconut
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 ¾ cup flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips divided
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 15×10.5" pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
- Peel bananas and mash well. Stir in brown sugar, oil, milk and eggs until combined. Add in dry ingredients and stir. Fold in 1/2 the chocolate chips.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle remaining chips on top.
- Bake 18-22 minutes, until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely and cut into squares. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
📫 Save this recipe! Send it to your email! 📩
I consent to receiving emails from this site.
Need more Ripe Banana Recipes?
I’ve made several revisions to this incredible recipe! Here are my favorites:
➡➡➡ I added Peanut Butter. These Peanut Butter Banana Bars have more flavor and protein! Use smooth or crunchy, depending on what you like.
➡➡➡Double the Chocolate! I mean, adding more chocolate is always a good idea. These Double Chocolate Banana Bars are dark brown due to the cocoa, so I took the opportunity to sneak in some blended spinach too! THEY NEVER NOTICE!
➡➡➡Like Cheesecake? I made two different versions to satisfy you! Here’s a Cream Cheese Frosted Banana Bars and this one, Cheesecake Banana Bars has a swirl of sweetened cream cheese baked into it!
➡➡➡Bring on the fruit! Bananas pair well with so many other fruits, so I made a Blueberry Banana Bars recipe, Strawberry Banana Bars and added some citrus with these Orange Banana Bars. YUM.
Can you use frozen bananas in banana bars?
A lot of people freeze overripe bananas to use them later on in banana bars. It’s a simple way to amass a collection of ripe bananas to use in this recipe. you don’t even have to peel the bananas prior to freezing! Once you’re ready to use them in this banana bars recipe, thaw them out slightly, then peel them and place the bananas in a bowl. Once they’re fully thawed, drain out the liquid and proceed with the recipe.
Can you freeze Chocolate Banana Bars?
Yes! I freeze these banana bars often! My favorite way to freeze them is to cut them into 2″-3″ squares and place in a small baggie. Place all of the individual baggies in a larger ziplock bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Then you have individual servings of chocolate chip banana bars that are perfect for an on-the-go snack or school lunch! You can also freeze a half pan of these banana bars. Instead of baking in a 10×15 pan, bake them in 2 quarter bakers sheets or 9×13 pans. Simply cool fully, then cover with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 weeks.
Are banana bars gluten free?
My traditional recipe for chocolate chip banana bars does contain gluten, however you can substitute a gluten-free flour blend or use almond flour instead. If you swap out regular flour with almond flour, just add a rounded teaspoon of baking soda instead.
Fantastic cake-like banana bar recipe for when you have ripe bananas that need to be used up! Perfectly spiced with a bit of cinnamon & studded with chocolate chips, these banana bars are amazing!
Alana says
It was really nice in terms of presentation but I didn’t like the texture and the taste was ok
deb says
I used five bananas and a bit of leftover applesauce in this recipe, and added some chopped pecans.
stirred all the chocolate chips into the batter.
the bars turned out GREAT! will be making these again for sure.
I did have to cook them for 26 minutes.
thank you!
Kelly says
Hi Alison, I want to try the gluten-free version. Your instructions call for a rounded tsp of baking soda with almond flour, however the recipe already calls for a tsp of baking soda. If I sub almond flour is it 2 tsp of baking soda? Thanks.
Jessica says
No, you’d use a rounded tsp of baking soda, instead of a regular tsp.
Cathy says
Well, they turned out like the picture but are very bland and the texture is too dense. I would chuck them if I hadn’t put in the chocolate chips.
Jessica says
Sounds like something didn’t go quite right, Cathy- dense & bland isn’t how they’re supposed to be! Where your bananas ripe?
Natalia says
Tastes lovely. Not full stars because of the measurements. Please include the metric system (ml etc) and save us all from headaches!
-love Europe and friends.
Jenna says
How long do individual wrapped bars from the freezer, need to defrost?
Alison says
We always just pop them in the microwave and they are good to go!
Jenna says
Thank you!! I can’t wait to try ❤️🥰
Bridget Keener says
These were absolutely amazing!
I freeze any bananas we don’t use in time so I took 6 frozen bananas out of the freezer and microwaved for 3 minutes until I could mash it.
I followed the directions except I did add one grated zucchini to the batter!
This was so moist and delicious and my 3 and 4 year old are now obsessed!
Alison says
I’m so happy to hear you love these as much as we do Bridget!
Holly says
These were easy to make and so tasty! Will definitely make again!
Stephanie Bowick says
For gf you say 1 rounded tsp of baking soda instead
Does that mean additional to the teaspoon in the recipe
Caitlin says
These came out fantastic! I did add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, but that was the only change I made. The texture was great and the flavors were tasty. I will be making these again.
Alison says
Thank you Caitlin! I hope you enjoy them again!
Carter says
Taste Great but mine comes out more like a cake than the bars not sure what I am doing wrong I followed the recipe 2 times now.
Nellie says
Are you using a 10X15 pan? If you make them in a smaller pan (9X13), they will be more like cake because they will be thicker than intended.
Sofia says
I LOVED this recipe, I made some changes to make it healthier and it still tasted amazing
For only 2 bananas I used HALF A CUP OF WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR AND HALF A CUP OF ALMOND FLOUR and the COCONUT OIL.
I recommend it 100%
Jessica says
So glad you liked it Sofia!
Bonnie says
Best part about this, 18 min in the convection oven, instead of 45-55min for banana loaf, and tastes just as great. I only had 3 ripe bananas (about 1 1/3 cup) but still turned out perfectly. I used brown sugar and baked them in a pampered chef stoneware pan. I have made these twice now, my kids love them. I will definitely keep this recipe. Thank you!!
Alison says
I agree Bonnie! So much quicker but just as delicious! I hope you and your kids continue to enjoy them!
Juliet says
Thanks for the recipe! It turned out great, though mine seems to be more of a moist banana bread. Is the result supposed to be a hard bar instead? Thanks again for sharing!
Alison says
Yes moist banana bread texture is the correct texture! I am glad they turned out great for you!
Cecelia says
Thank you for the recipe. My husband loved these. I was wondering how it would turn out if I substitute banana with pumpkin if so do you think I should add more sugar since the bananas are already sweet?
Maelynn Grube says
I made these and they were delicious but turn out very wet? Is it because of the vegetable oil I used?
Amanda says
I think I undercooked mine 🙁
Nellie says
Oh no! Maybe just add a few minutes to the baking time next time – hopefully you still got to enjoy the edges!
Stacie Willis says
Can I add oats to this recipe?
Nellie says
Sounds like a great idea!
Debbie R Pine says
Total hit both times I made these. Both times i only had 3 very ripe bananas and adjusted the recipe with less of everything and only 1 egg. Totally delicious!
Alison says
Thanks so much Debbie! Glad it worked great for you!
Regina says
Mine turned out soft , fluffy and moist like a cake texture…is this how its supposed to be? From the pictures I was thinking the texture would be something like a brownie kind texture. Love the taste of bananas and cinnamon. I added vanilla essence for additional fragrance. Super easy recipe to churn out. I like it! thanks for sharing xoxo
j says
Mine did, too… I wondered if it was because I used wax paper between the pan and batter?
Kate McCann says
So so easy and delicious, I made with 1/8 coconut oil and 1/8 applesauce and cut brown sugar to 1/2 cup as suggested since my bananas were very ripe. These are delicious! Might add nuts next time!
Jessica says
So glad you liked it Kate! We love adding walnuts or pecans!
Elayna says
Thanks for the recipe!!!! I’m in love with this…. I’ve tried this recipe and it’s simple & easy and most importantly it came out beautiful! Tho I felt it’s a little too sweet for my liking… Will try again another time with reduced sugar. <3
Alison says
Thanks Elayna! I hope you enjoy it even more next time!
Noreen says
Do not have a metal pan for this recipe so used a glass baking dish 12″ x 8.5″. Used 4 large ripe bananas, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar & baked for 25min. Tested done at that time. Texture was dense & moist. What would be your recommendations concerning the glass baking dish – higher heat & more time or less of each or never use 🙂 ? Would use less chips next time. Thanks for your information.
Jessica says
Divide the batter in half and cook 2 batches in your 12″ x 8″ pan… since it’s essentially half the size of the pan I recommended.
Rebecca says
Delicious and easy to throw together. I also have used unsweetened vanilla almond milk, when I have it on hand.
Jessica says
That’s what I use now too Rebecca!