Malted Chocolate Banana Bread

Malted chocolate banana bread is moist with a roast-y malted and rich double chocolate flavor. This more decadent take on banana bread isn’t overly sweet, but would make a wonderful sweet snack or dessert.

There exists a fine line between sweet foods that are acceptable to eat in the A.M. hours and those that are basically dessert masquerading in the form of breakfast or snacks.

Chocolate chip pancakes always seem to get a pass for breakfast, however I wouldn’t think to serve myself a slice of this malted chocolate banana bread along with my morning coffee.

Not because I wouldn’t want to (because I sure would), but it’s more of a dessert banana bread, if you will.

Recipe ingredients

For starters, the usual banana bread suspects are all present, such as flour, leavening agents, overripe bananas, milk, and butter, but there are a few twists to take this malted chocolate banana bread to the next level.

Let’s start with chocolate. I (loosely) based this recipe on my naturally sweetened banana bread, which continues to be my go-to banana bread recipe. It’s hard to mess with a winner.

The chocolate aspect here comes from replacing a portion of the flour in my more classic banana bread with unsweetened cocoa powder.

Easy enough. Then there are the chocolate chips that are dotted throughout this loaf. While they’re technically optional, they solidify this chocolate malted banana bread as a serious treat.

Then there’s the malted milk powder. I love it in easy milkshakes and experimenting with it in other dessert recipes, such as these malted brownie cookies. It adds an extra layer of roast-y, earthy flavor to this chocolate banana bread that kicks things up a notch.

While you’ll find that it’s not as sweet or as crunchy (obviously) as popular malted milk treats like Whoppers or Maltesers, you’ll definitely taste similar notes.

Easy recipe steps

Something to love about quick breads is that their method is, well, quick.

You’ll first whisk together all of the dry ingredients until combined in a medium mixing bowl.

Then you’ll beat the bananas and the rest of the wet ingredients in a separate mixing bowl. If you’re deciding between a smaller and larger bowl, use the larger bowl for the wet ingredients as that’s where everything will come together.

Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients, then fold in the chocolate chips. This banana bread is almost ready to bake.

This bread bakes in a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan. A tip to prevent banana breads (and many quick breads) from sinking in the center is to grease just the bottom and first inch of the loaf pan. This helps ensure the banana bread releases from the bottom of the pan, all the while allowing it to grab hold of the sides as it bakes and rise.

Banana bread has a long bake time (around one hour), and nothing is different with this chocolatey version. Once a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, let the bread cool in the pan for about fifteen minutes, then carefully loosen the sides with a knife or a thin spatula and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

I recommend waiting until the bread is completely cool before slicing because it’ll be less crumbly and messy.

While this chocolate banana bread won’t hit you over the head with sweetness, it brings a rich chocolate flavor times two: first from the cocoa powder in the batter and second from the semi-sweet chocolate chips throughout.

The malted milk powder adds a flavor complexity with an almost roasted note that pairs so well with chocolate. I’ve been experimenting with it in waffles, candies, and, of course, homemade milkshakes. A canister is just a few bucks and has proven to be a fun ingredient to play around with!

Recipe notes

• I find malted milk powder in the powdered milk aisle at the grocery store, near the dry chocolate milk mixes.
• Measure flour using the ‘spoon and level’ method, which is detailed in the recipe card notes below. This prevents excess flour from being added to the recipe, which can lead to dry baked goods.
• Try and grease just the bottom and first inch or so of the loaf pan. This allows this bread to get a good grip on the sides of the loaf pan as it rises and helps to prevent a sunken center.