This Chocolate Rum Banana Bread is incredibly moist, flavorful, and loaded with chocolate. If you're a lover of banana bread and chocolate, then this recipe is for you. This recipe combines two classic flavors into one delicious dessert that's perfect as a breakfast treat or even as an afternoon snack!
Chocolate Rum Banana Bread
If you're looking for a treat that screams bananas, then this is it. Everyone's favorite fruit gets an upgrade with some chocolate and rum.
What more do I need to say other than chocolate, rum, and bananas? Ok, maybe just a little bit more, but I'm sure you get the idea.
I picked up some bananas the other day just for the purpose of making bread. I don't like eating bananas when they are this ripe, but I love the flavor they provide to bread. I usually go with a good old fashion banana bread, but this week I had some extra chocolate lying around and figured I would use it up.
For those of you that don't know, we have moved into our commercial kitchen this week. So I'm halfway out of the house and halfway into the new kitchen/photo studio. Something as simple as banana bread was a bit of a challenge this week as my home studio/kitchen is almost empty, and the commercial kitchen/photography studio is almost set up. Almost is the keyword in that sentence. Trying to complete an entire project in one location is a bit of a precarious situation this week. But these bananas had about one more day in their life cycle, and instead of wasting them, I just went for it.
Ingredients In Chocolate Rum Banana Bread
- Bananas (very ripe)
- Butter
- Rum
- Dark brown sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Baking soda
- Salt
- AP Flour
- Dutch process cocoa powder
- Valrhona Manjari chocolate chopped
This recipe is an adaption of chocolate banana bread by Smitten Kitten. It's no secret; I'm getting to be known as the gal that likes to add liquor to her chocolate creations. So you guessed it. We have been working a lot with Treaty Oak Rum, and it was a great fit for this bread. Not only did we get just a hint of the flavor in the bread, but this bread was so moist, I think it technically should be called a cake. And, of course, nothing would be complete without my favorite brand of chocolate, Valrhona. Any dark chocolate and your favorite rum brand will work for this recipe if you don't have access to Valrhona or Treaty Oak, but I'm just saying, both of them make this a really nice product.
How to Make Banana Bread
I love banana bread for its sheer simplicity. It comes out perfectly, every time!
- Mash the bananas in a bowl and add the remaining wet ingredients.
- Sift in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chunks and transfer the batter to a baking pan.
- Bake for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool 15 minutes before eating.
What Else Can You Add To The Banana Bread
Now, if you aren't a rum lover, this bread works perfectly fine without it. So just skip that ingredient. If you want to add a few other things to this bread, I'd go with nuts. Possibly walnuts or pecans. I also thought about drizzling melted peanut butter chips on the top. You could also add some into the batter.
How Long Will It Stay Fresh?
This will last on the counter wrapped in an airtight container or plastic wrap for a week. You can also freeze this if you are planning on using it in the future. Once baked, just let cool, then wrap with plastic wrap. I'd then do a second wrap with aluminum foil or place it in a Ziploc plastic bag to keep any air out. Freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost on the counter when you are ready to use.
Chocolate Rum Banana Bread Tips
- Chocolate is the main ingredient here. So you want to make sure you are using good quality chocolate and cocoa powder. We used a 64% Valrhona Chocolate.
- Bananas are super important. You want them to be as ripe as possible to let that delicious flavor out. You want them brown and very ripe.
- I kept my chocolate pieces large when I chopped them. A bit larger than a chocolate chip.
- I like the brown sugar in this recipe because it mixes really well with the banana flavor and adds a ton of moisture to the bread.
- Watch the bread closely, starting around 55 minutes into the bake. I check it every 5 minutes after that. A toothpick inserted in the center of the bread should come out clean or with some melted chocolate on, but not raw batter.
- Let the bread cool completely before cutting. It will be a bit crumbly, and this helps to keep your slices nice and neat.
More Bread and Muffin Recipes to Try
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So if you are looking for something that is super easy to make, has a delicious flavor, and is extremely moist this is the bread for you. Give it a try, we would love to hear how it worked for you.
Chocolate Rum Banana Bread
Ingredients
Adapted from Smitten Kitten
- 3 large very ripe bananas
- ½ cup butter melted
- 1 ounce Rum
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup AP Flour
- ½ cup Dutch process cocoa powder
- 1 ¼ cup Valrhona Manjari chocolate chopped
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°
- Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan with nonstick baking spray.
- Mash bananas into the bottom of a large bowl. Whisk in melted butter, rum, brown sugar, egg and vanilla.
- Place baking soda, salt, flour and cocoa powder in a sifter and sift into wet ingredients. Stir with a spoon until combined.
- Add chocolate chunks and stir to blend.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake for 60 - 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean.
- Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then take out and place on a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
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Ashley says
This is one of the best things I've ever baked! So flavorful and moist, I may even make this instead of cake for my next birthday! Absolutely delicious and everyone that tried it raved about it!
Jared says
I made this for the first time Saturday and it turned out wonderfully. The Rum flavor is subtle. I love this flavor. I will be making this again.
serena says
Thanks for sharing! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Trish says
I made this recipe because it sounded so good. I have to cut sugar where I can so I used swerve brown sugar, Lilly’s milk chocolate chips and cacoa powder. I know when you cut sugar it isn’t always a great taste but this was very good! I also poured a half ounce of rum over the top like one of the readers suggested. My diabetic husband loved it and so did I! Thanks for a fun recipe 😀
serena says
I'm so glad it turned out well even with the changes! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Carrisima Mascarenhas says
Absolutely and insanely delicious. Tried this yesterday. I did not have large bananas so used 7 small ones. Also substituted the chocolate mentioned with 3/4th cup dark chocolate chips. Went with the recipe for the rest. Baking time given was exact. There is hardly any cake leftover so it just shows how much we loved eating it. Thank you for your wonderful recipe.
serena says
Thank you so much for sharing such great feedback! This recipe is one of my favorites 🙂
Angie says
What about adding walnuts or other nuts?
serena says
I'd give it a try. We haven't made any with nuts. I'd cut them small so they don't all sink to the bottom of the cake
Tt says
can you substitute run extract at all? lol its a pandemic but this looks great for mothersday!!
Laurie DeWitt says
Yes, yes, yes! I'm a terrible baker, but I can't believe how amazing this turned out! I doubled the rum, and then when I pulled it out of the oven after a few minutes, I poured another one to 2 oz on top. Still can't taste a ton of rum in it, but it is the most amazing and delicious quick bread ever! I used 1 and 1/2 oz of baker's chocolate and about a cup of ground up chocolate chips that I put in a nutribullet to chop up.
Connie says
It looks so delicious.. was wondering if I could make it in a bundt pan??
Sujata says
I tried making chocolate rum banana muffins and they came out so nice and soft , here in India we don’t get good quality chocolate , but whatever I got made mini muffins , here we get very small eggs so I used two and instead of melted butter used olive oil , my husband enjoyed them very much as he is fond of rum😜, I am going to make them again and again . Thank you for the best recipe .
serena says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Denise says
This came out really nice and moist, had a great flavor, and the rum taste was not overwhelming. I used milk chocolate chips, have never heard of Valrhona Manjari chocolate. Next time I might try making it with the coconut rum I have. The only problem I had was when I cut it, it crumbles and I let it cool for over an hour on a rack. Cooked it for the 60 minutes, maybe I needed to cook it for a few more minutes, but the toothpick came out clean after the 60 minutes. Or maybe it just needed more rum? 😉
serena says
Ha Denise! I like your idea about adding more rum, and the coconut rum would be awesome! The cake is a bit crumbly to begin with, but if its really crumbly, the crumbs can be caused from a few things. Next time spend a tiny bit more time mixing the fats and sugars together to make sure they are mixed really well, but don't overmix. Also the flour may have been a bit much. Spoon the flour in a dry measuring cup. Level it off with the end of a knife. Don't pack or compress the flour into the measuring cup. And I'd double check your oven temps and make sure 350° is really what the oven temp is. Let me know if you try it again. I think I'm going to give it a whirl with coconut rum 🙂
Amanda @ Cookie Named Desire says
This looks so rich and moist. I can practically taste it already!
serena says
Thanks Amanda! It's definitely one of my favorites 🙂
Michelle @ Blackberry Babe says
This looks positively sinful! I don't think I've ever said that about banana bread before. Well done!!!
serena says
Thanks Michelle!
Amy says
This sounds so good! Would it be possible to substitute brandy for the rum? I don't have any rum on hand, but I do have almost everything else needed.
serena says
Thanks Amy! Sure I would substitute brandy for rum if it was what I had on hand.