adventures of an american housewife in the south of france

Chocolate Chip-Nutella Banana Bread

This is going to sound strange, and may possibly cause some of you to lose mad respect for me, but this whole Chocolate Chip-Nutella Banana Bread business began with last week's episode of Jersey Shore. Let me explain. In last week's episode, Snooki and Deena get in trouble, and in danger of being fired, for completely blowing off their job and disrespecting their boss Danny.  The usual stuff, right?  But to make it up to Danny, they decide to "bake" him a cake.  I use the term bake loosely, because what they really did was make a cake from a box and use icing from a can, but something about that cake looked so delicious, that I had to have some.  I love me some yellow cake with chocolate frosting, even made by Betty Crocker herself. But it was the weekend in France, which meant that our window for grocery shopping was very, very small.  Plus, they most certainly do not sell things like icing in a can here in the land of patisseries, so I had to figure out what I could make with the ingredients in my home that could turn into something that still tasted like a delicious cake with chocolate icing. That's when Hub reminded me of the Nutella in the pantry. And the four bananas in the freezer. I'm actually not huge on Banana Bread, unless there is chocolate chips inside, but I had all the necessary ingredients.  Plus, we figured a little Nutella would make it taste even better.  And we were right.  This is not your typical Banana Bread.  This is ooey, gooey, sticky cake-like bread with swirls of Nutella that taste like icing.  Basically, it's the closest thing Banana Bread can be to a cake.  It is not intended for the faint of heart.  Or for breakfast, for that matter.  It's pure dessert and oh so good.

see the ooey, gooey chunks? i probably didn't smash the bananas enough, but it made it yummy!

You can really follow any Banana Bread recipe you'd like and just add Nutella and Chocolate Chips, but here's how I do it. You'll Need:
  • 4 ripe bananas, smashed
  • 1/3 cup melted butter*
  • 3/4 sugar (light brown or white, I used light brown this time but I've made it with both)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 1/2 cup of flour
  • 1/4 cup of Nutella
  • 1/2 cup of chocolate chips
*in a sort of half-assed attempt to make this bread healthy, I used 1/3 cup of vanilla yogurt instead of the melted butter.  Again, I've made this bread both ways and didn't taste much of a difference, so use whatever you have on hand! Directions: Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter (or yogurt) into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla, and about a 1/4 cup of Nutella.  I just used what was left in the jar, but depending how ooey goeey you want it to be, you can add more or less.  Finally, add the spices and sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour mixture into a buttered 4×8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to one hour, or until a tester comes out clean in the non-Nutella parts. Cool on a rack.  Remove from pan and slice to serve.

finished product....half eaten.

11 Responses to “Chocolate Chip-Nutella Banana Bread”

  1. Shannon says:

    Just made my grocery list for this! Looks amazing and can’t wait to make it!

  2. Diana says:

    Thank you! So making this as soon as my bananas brown :)

  3. Greer says:

    looks amazing! I will be making this in the near future!

  4. Jordan says:

    I just made this yesterday and I NEVER cook! It was super easy and SUPER yummy!

  5. Andy says:

    We just made it too – so goooood!

  6. Helen says:

    OMG!!!!!!!!! We just made this and it was so delicious! Un grand remerciement all the way from Wellington NZ.

  7. Leah says:

    I just made this and I followed the directions exactly. (Except I put more nutella because I like mine gooey) Unfortunately it came out gross. It is dry and the flavor is terrible. I should have stuck to the original recipe I found on Pinterest which turned out AMAZING.

    • Natalie says:

      I’m sorry to hear that! I have to say I’m a bit surprised. I’ve made this (with and without Nutella) about a dozen times and it’s never turned out dry, always super moist. I always wait until my bananas are very brown and then freeze them until I have 4. When I sit them out to defrost to make the bread, they turn out very mushy and sweet. Maybe that helps with the texture?

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