Fall-Lovers Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Maybe 2020 was the year of banana bread… but every year pumpkin spice comes back into style the second the temperature drops below 70 degrees and I’m here to proclaim my love for the both of them. Shamelessly, every year I bring pumpkin back in like I haven’t had it in years, and stock my cabinet for months. Meanwhile, pumpkin spice lives in my spice cabinet year round because when the craving calls baby, it CALLS. And this weekend it called me, AND the temperature was below 70 degrees which officially meant it was time to kick off the pumpkin baking.

I’m starting off slow and just dipping a toe in with this pumpkin spice chocolate chip banana bread! It’s filled with brown butter, pumpkin spice, chocolate chips, ripe bananas, and topped off with walnuts and even more chocolate. And boy is it tasty and the most perfect way to welcome Fall into the air.

This banana bread is super moist with a really nice rise. I guarantee you’ll enjoy it if you love banana bread and Fall just as much as I do! It is perfect for a midday treat or a fun weekend breakfast to enjoy with a cup of coffee. Hope you enjoy this as much as I do! Recipe tips, suggestions and substitutions are below. 🙂 Oh, and if you don’t like pumpkin spice…. I got you – you totally can still make this bread!

But I don’t like walnuts…

Not a problem! Feel free to replace the walnuts with another nut or mix-in, or you can omit them completely since they just get baked over top of the bread! Pecans or extra chocolate chips would work well.

How do I brown butter?

Browning butter is a very simple process that takes just about 5 minutes, but adds a whole load of flavor and depth to whatever you use it in. To brown the butter for this pumpkin spice banana bread, simply add the stick of butter to a saucepan over low-medium heat on the stovetop. Continuously stir the butter in the pan as it is melting. Once the butter has melted down completely, it will start to simmer and become bubbly / frothy over top. During this process, continue stirring the butter. It will become fragrant and turn a light brown color. At this point, you’ve successfully browned butter! Just set it aside and let it cool down. 🙂

I accidentally added in all the chocolate chips and walnuts into the bread and didn’t save any for the top…

Oops! No worries, though. Your banana bread will just be slightly more chocolatey… could be worse, right?! Just bake for an extra minute or two and then check with a toothpick to ensure the bread is done.

I don’t have any pumpkin spice. Can I still make this?

Of course! If you aren’t a fan of pumpkin spice and / or just don’t have any on hand, feel free to omit completely or make your own pumpkin spice. There is plenty of flavor from the brown sugar, maple and brown butter to make this a delicious bread on it’s own without the pumpkin spice, but if you’s like to make your own pumpkin spice, below are a few great recipes.

• Pumpkin Spice Blend Recipe
• Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice
• DIY Pumpkin Pie Spice

Craving more banana bread? Look no further…

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

One Bowl Banana Bread With Crumble Topping

Samoa Banana Bread

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

5 from 2 votes

Recipe by Lindsey Goldschmidt Difficulty: Easy

Servings

1

loaf

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

47

minutes

Ingredients

• 2 Ripe Bananas

• 2/3 Cup Brown Sugar

• 1/4 Cup Maple Syrup

• 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, browned

• 2 Eggs

• 1.5 Cup All Purpose Flour

• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

• 1/2 tsp Salt

• 3/4 Tbsp Pumpkin Spice

• 2/3 Cup Chocolate Chips

• 1/3 Cup Walnuts

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9×11 loaf pan with parchment paper – set aside.
• Begin first by browning the butter. Add 1/2 cup, or 1 stick, butter to a stovetop pot and heat over low – medium heat, stirring continuously until fully melted and butter begins to bubble and become fragrant. At this point, continue stirring and the butter will become light brown in color. At this point, remove it from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes. This is important as we’ll mix it with the eggs and don’t want the butter to be so hot that it cooks the eggs!
• While the butter is cooling, add your bananas to a large mixing bowl and mash until smooth. Then, add eggs, brown sugar & maple syrup to the same bowl and whisk.
• Once the brown butter has cooled some, add it to the bowl with the bananas, eggs and sugar and whisk everything together once more.
• In a separate bowl, combine flour, pumpkin spice, salt, baking soda & baking powder.
• Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and fold everything together until fully combined. Folding ingredients together here rather than mixing vigorously will keep the banana bread a nice light texture. 
• Finally, fold in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips into the batter – reserving the remaining 1/3 cup for the top of the bread.
• Pour the banana bread batter into your parchment lined loaf pan and then top with the remaining 1/3 cup chocolate chips and 1/3 cup walnuts.
• Bake the bread for about 47 – 48 minutes. Once the loaf is done baking, and a toothpick can come out clean (besides some melted chocolate), remove it from the oven and let the loaf cool. Then, slice and enjoy.

Notes