Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Step 2

In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas until smooth. Few chunks here and there is fine. You can also pulse the bananas a few times in a blender if you prefer.

Step 3

In the bowl with the mashed bananas, add the sugar, melted butter, eggs and vanilla extract, mix on low until combined.

Step 4

In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips with a spatula, mix just until combined.

Step 5

Pour the batter into a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan (greased or lined with parchment paper). Add additional chocolate chips to the top of the bread if desired.

Step 6

Bake for 60 minutes. Check the bread and add additional time in 5 or 10 minute intervals until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few breadcrumbs. The baking time is a large range because every oven if different and various loaf pans cook at different times. There’s two popular loaf pan sizes – 9×5 and 8.5×4.Even though the numbers are similar, the pans actually differ in size by 15%. The 8.5×4.5 pan will yield a tall, more domed bread and will take 5-10 minutes longer when baking. Cool for 15 minutes in the baking dish and then transfer to a wire rack until cooled completely.