Decadent Nutella Banana Bread
This Nutella Banana Bread recipe is not your everyday banana bread. It’s rich and decadent and packed with chocolate chips and ribbons of Nutella swirl. And yet it’s as easy to make as any other.
Enjoy a slice of Nutella banana bread as an afternoon snack or a late-night dessert alongside a creamy espresso martini or Frangelico sour. Or even, perhaps, as a naughty breakfast.
Jump to:
Key ingredients
Bananas
The key to banana bread is really ripe bananas. As bananas ripen from green to yellow to brown to black, the sugar and water content increase. The best bananas for making super moist banana bread are very brown to just black.
Tip from the wise quacker: you can freeze overripe bananas if it’s not the right day for baking. Peel the bananas and put them in a freezer bag. Let them come to room temperature before making this Nutella-swirled quick bread or use them still frozen in smoothies.
Nutella
Nutella is a chocolate and hazelnut spread that’s been made by the Italian company, Ferrero, since the 1960s. Fun fact: the company supposedly uses one-quarter of the world’s hazelnuts, which are primarily grown in Turkey.
With its first two ingredients being sugar and palm oil, Nutella is definitely not a health food. You can reduce the amount of Nutella swirl if you are concerned, or you can make your own Nutella recipe and control the amount of sugar and fat in the recipe.
Variations and substitutions
Here are some options for variations for this recipe:
- Leave out the chocolate chips.
- Add chopped, skinned hazelnuts for added crunch.
- Use a swirl of a different nut butters.
Key technique: banana bread vs banana cake
Banana bread is a quick bread, a group of sweet and savory loaves made with chemical leavening instead of yeast. Banana bread is usually denser and moister than banana cake, although this Nutella banana bread is rich enough to be called a Nutella and banana cake.
Quick breads and cakes can both be made using the creaming method. That’s the baking method in which you cream butter and sugar together for leavening. Then you beat in eggs, and finally you add the dry ingredients.
Quick breads can also be made using the muffin method. That’s the baking method where you start with the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Then you stir the liquid ingredients into the wet ingredients only until the dry ingredients are moistened. The muffin method would work with quick breads made with oil or melted butter.
Recipe tips and tricks
Lining the pan
Whether it’s bars, brownies, or quick breads, anytime your baked good has a special top, line your pan with a parchment paper sling. That way you can lift your Nutella banana bread out of the bread pan without disturbing the chocolate chips you’ve sprinkled delicately on top.
To make a parchment sling, first grease your loaf pan. Then cut a strip of parchment the width of your pan, secure it with binder clips, and grease and flour the pan.
Making the batter
Making banana bread really is simple. First, cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer (Panel #1, below), then beat in the bananas (Panel #2).
Add the eggs and vanilla extract (Panel #3), and then mix in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips. Do not over-mix at this point to avoid building up the gluten.
Making the Nutella swirl
To make the Nutella swirl, pour one half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Then dollop large spoonfuls of Nutella over top of the batter (Panel #1, below). Use a butter knife or small spatula to scoop the batter and Nutella together, being careful not to scrape the bottom of the pan (Panel #2).
Repeat with the the remaining batter and second half of Nutella (Panels #3 and #4, above).
Final steps
Sprinkle the reserved quarter cup of chocolate chips evenly over top of the entire loaf. Don’t forget to remove the binder clips before baking, then bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Let the banana bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then remove it from the pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.
Recipe FAQs
No, you don’t have to do anything. But you can find a good kitchen scale for just about $10. Weighing ingredients will make your baking more consistent, and you’ll have less to clean up!
As long as you know it will hold together better if you wait until it cools completely, I’m not going to stop you.
Wrapped in aluminum foil, banana bread can be stored at cool room temperature for about one week. To keep this Nutella banana bread for longer, double wrap the cooled loaf in plastic wrap, put it in a freezer bag, and squeeze out all the air. To defrost, simply let it come to room temperature. Please don’t store any breads or cakes in the refrigerator, or it will make them dry.
Related recipes
If you love banana, check out my simple one bowl chocolate chip banana bread. It’s made with whole wheat flour and orange juice, so it’s a bit healthier than this recipe. Or use bananas in mini banana muffins, mashed sweet potatoes or smoothie bowls.
If it’s Nutella you love, I’ve got you covered with:
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-heart 💜💜💜💜💜 rating in the recipe card below. Let me know how much you loved it, or any problems you had, in the comments section further down.
Nutella Banana Bread
Equipment
- 1 9 by 5 inch or 8.5 by 4.5 inch loaf pan
Ingredients
- 2 cup (250 grams) bleached, all-purpose flour
- 1¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened plus extra for greasing the pan
- ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 cups very ripe bananas (3 to 4 medium bananas)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup chocolate chips, divided
- ⅔ cup Nutella or other chocolate hazelnut spread, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a loaf pan, using a parchment sling, if desired (see Notes).4 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a small bowl.2 cup (250 grams) bleached, all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1¼ teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a medium mixing bowl if using a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until it is light, about 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl as necessary.4 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened, ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- Add the bananas and beat until softened. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on medium speed for one minute.2 cups very ripe bananas (3 to 4 medium bananas), 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until just mixed. Do not over-mix.
- Reserving ¼ of chocolate chips for the top, add the remaining ¾ cup of chocolate chips to the batter, and mix by hand.1 cup chocolate chips, divided
- Scrape half of the banana bread batter into the loaf pan.
- Dollop ⅓ cup of Nutella onto the top of the batter in large spoonfuls, and use a knife or spatula to swirl the Nutella into the batter.⅔ cup Nutella or other chocolate hazelnut spread, divided
- Top with the remaining batter and repeat the dollops and swirling with the remaining Nutella.⅔ cup Nutella or other chocolate hazelnut spread, divided
- Scatter the reserved ¼ cup of chocolate chips on top of the swirled batter.1 cup chocolate chips, divided
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes on a rack in the middle of the oven until a toothpick or knife inserted into it comes out clean (you may need to check in a few places if you stick a toothpick into a chocolate chip). Check it at about 45 minutes and cover the banana bread with a foil tent if it is browning too quickly.
- Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then turn onto a cooling rack. It can be sliced when warm, but it is even better after it has cooled, wrapped in foil, and the crust has softened a bit. Store at room temperature for up to one week.
Notes
Nutrition
This Nutella banana bread was first posted August 29, 2022. It was last updated May 23, 2023.
Looking for inspiration?
Sign up to get recipes full of kitchen tips and tricks.
