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 recipe!
Best ripe banana recipe ever
This recipe for Chocolate Chip Banana Bars is my favorite banana recipe ever. Chocolate Chip Banana Bars are perfect for breakfast, lunch, or a snack! They are delicious, filling, and your whole family will love them. 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!
I’ve made these tasty treats for years and our family can’t get enough! They’re perfect for a snack, but I also like to eat them for breakfast. They’re chock full of bananas and I use whole wheat flour to make them more filling. I know the addition of cinnamon may seem a little different, but I encourage you to try it. It adds just a nice pop of flavor.
I’ve recently made a couple variations on this recipe! You’ve got to try our Double Chocolate Banana Bars as well as our Peanut Butter Banana Bars
How to make Healthy 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.
–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.
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.
Chocolate Chip Banana Recipe 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.
–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 Chip Banana Dessert 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.
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
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Have more ripe bananas? Here are our favorite RIPE BANANA RECIPES:
- Banana Cream Cookies
- Banana Split Milkshakes
- Chocolate Chip Banana Cake
- Banana Cinnamon Coffee Cake
- Nutella Banana Muffins
- CAST IRON BANANA BREAD
- STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE BANANA BREAD
- BANANA ORANGE BARS
- PINEAPPLE BANANA BREAD
- PEANUT BUTTER BANANA BUNDT CAKE
- SOUR CREAM BANANA BREAD
- STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE BANANA BREAD
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 Chip 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 baked 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!
Sarah says
I tried this with vegetable oil and they didn’t dry out as much as shown in the photos. Next time, I’ll try with coconut oil instead.
Jessica k says
Wow delicious! Thank you for the recipe. I will absolutely make it again. Here are the subs i did in case its helpful for anyone. It turned out PERFECTLY! Loved it
1/2 coconut oil mixed with 1/2 applesauce ( 2T each)
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 loosely packed brown sugar since my bananas were super ripe.
A dash of cinnamon instead – but I’d totally skip it next time
12.5×9 sheet pan and baked it for 24 mins
I’m also pretty sure my costco sized bananas were huge and way more than callef for but i still used 5 and it was still fine
Nellie says
Thanks for sharing your substitutions! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
K Smith says
Great alternative to bread for using up overripe bananas. Quick and delicious, always love it too when I don’t have to use the mixer! 🙂 I used melted coconut oil, and only needed 4 bananas to equal 1 2/3 cups. The result is somewhere in between a cookie and banana bread. Definitely going in the baking rotation, thanks!
Alison says
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed these!
Natalie says
Wow! These turned out so good! I’m eating one as I type this. I did mix the dry ingredients first before putting it in the the banana mixture too. So moist, flavorful and yummy! Thank you 😊👍🏼 I finished it…time for another one! 🤣
Kristen Shields says
I made this to get rid of a lot of ripened bananas we had on hand and I wanted to make some healthy snacks for my husband. He loved these and I cut up over 24 pieces and after cooling bagged them up. Perfect grab and go snack and a great way to use up some bananas. Simple recipe and I will use in the future.
Alison says
This is how we use them at our house too! I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed these Kristen!
June Gaulding says
Just made these, followed instructions to the T.
Turned out so nice, just like the picture.
However, the cinnamon ruined them. Sorry 😞
Alison says
You could always omit the cinnamon if it is not your preference!
Michele says
Love them. I added a drop of vanilla extract and little less cinnamon then the recipe called for. I do have a question, should these be stored in the refrigerator?
Nellie says
You can just store them at room temperature. I like to cut them up and freeze them individually wrapped in plastic wrap for lunches as well.
Teresa says
Moist and delicious! More like banana cake consistency though. I used dark belgian disks, cut into shards, and added walnuts too. I did add an extra 8 minutes to the bake time, probably due to the wetness of my bananas? Will make again. 🙂
Mariyam says
Loved this. It was very delicious.
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!