Chunky Monkey Banana Loaf is the perfect mix of peanut butter, chocolate, and bananas. This bread is SO yummy- it’s flavorful, it’s moist, and thick, it’s easy, and it’s gorgeous. Made with simple ingredients that are already in your kitchen and instructions that are plain and simple, this bread will be your new favorite way to use your over-ripe bananas!

4 slices of banana bread on a wire cooling rack with a bowl of peanut butter, bowl of chocolate chips, and white linen next to them

Why You Need This Bread

Not only is this bread moist, stable, and filled with flavor, but it’s SO pretty. This bread has a perfect dome, a beautiful shiny top, and the mini chocolate chips on top make it look so elegant. It doesn’t have any funky ingredients, allows you to have as many or as little chocolate chips as you’d like, and can be whipped up pretty quickly.

This Chunky Monkey Banana Loaf has endless opportunities! Make this into a 9×5 pan, mini loaves, mini bundts, muffins, OR mini muffins! You’ll just need to adjust the bake time to ensure that you don’t overbake or underbake. The more batter per pan, the longer it will need to cook. My mini loaves took about 25-30 minutes to cook, and my bread takes a little over an hour. I would start checking regular muffins at 16 minutes and mini muffins at 10 minutes.

straight-on shot of slices chunky monkey banana bread with a bowl of peanut butter, a bowl of chocolate chips, and milk jug in the background

Making the Bread

Combine wet ingredients with peanut butter and mashed bananas
Whisk dry ingredients in a medium bowl
Whisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients
Fold in chocolate chips
Transfer batter to prepare pan
Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top of batter
Bake

overhead shot of partially sliced banana bread on a wire rack

Baking Chunky Monkey Bread

All ovens are different, so please check on your treats every once in a while… I do not want you to burn your loaf. I also don’t want you to eat raw bread- that’s never fun.

Check on a 9×5 pan after 40 minutes, tent a piece of aluminum foil over the top to prevent browning, and bake for another 15-25 minutes. This bread should be golden brown on top, but it should not be dark around the edges.

The bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with moist crumbs. The toothpick shouldn’t be wet. You should see crumbs, though, because this bread is moist AND will continue to bake in the pan as it cools. If you don’t see any crumbs on the toothpick, the bread is actually a bit overdone!

angled shot of chunky monkey bread with a bowl of creamy peanut butter and jug of milk in the background

Alterations and Substitutions

Pan: Bake this bread into any pan you have laying around! I WOULD recommend baking in a metal or aluminum pan, as I found breads bake best in them! The more batter per pan, the longer the bread will need to cook. Mini muffins will take less time than regular muffins, mini bundt pans will take longer than muffins!
Vegetable Oil: I always hope that a recipe can be made as it is written. I do know that everyone has different tastes and dietary needs! Instead of vegetable oil, you could use melted butter or practically any other oil (canola, grapeseed, etc.) if you prefer those options!
Sour Cream: You can absolutely sub greek yogurt for sour cream! I would not substitute regular or low-fat/skim yogurt for sour cream, though. Doing so will yield a different texture!

Other Recipes

Chunky Monkey Banana Loaf

Author: Elise
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Yield: 9x5 loaf 1x
Category: Bread, Loaves, Banana Bread
Cuisine: American

Print Recipe

Description

This Chunky Monkey Banana Loaf is the perfect combination of chocolate, peanut butter, and bananas. It’s made with simple ingredients and achievable techniques. This bread is flavorful, stable, and moist.

Ingredients

Scale

3 large, ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup + 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray your pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. This will allow the bread to come out of the pan easily once it has cooled.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together until combined.
In a large bowl, whisk mashed bananas, peanut butter, oil, light brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract together until combined. This mixture will not be smooth, but make sure all of the ingredients are properly incorporated.
Pour dry ingredients into the wet. Mix with a whisk or wooden spoon. Do not overmix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Fold in 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, or desired amount.
Fill your pan with the batter before placing remaining 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips on top.
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. At this point, check to see if the bread is browning on top. If the bread looks golden but is completely gooey underneath, tent the pan with aluminum foil and bake for and additional 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs.
Allow the bread to cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before carefully flipping it onto a wire rack to continue cooling.
Store covered at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the fridge for up to one week.

Keywords: Chocolate Peanut Butter, Banana Bread, Chunky Monkey Banana Bread