You might be asking why I decided to make this in a cast iron skillet, and well, it wasn’t really by choice. I wanted to jump on the internet band wagon and bake banana bread, only to realize I am without a loaf pan.
So I figured if you can make a skillet chocolate chip cookie, why can’t you make skillet chocolate chip banana bread??
The results? FANTASTIC. I will admit that I used a nonstick cast iron skillet (yes, that’s a thing, and it’s also fantastic buy one here), but I imagine if you grease a normal cast iron pan properly before baking, you will achieve similar results.
There are SO MANY recipes out there, but I found this one from Buzzfeed Tasty to be the simplest, so I just adapted it here with mostly the same measurements (more chocolate chips though) and changed the baking time/temp.
Because here’s the thing you need to remember when using different vehicles for baking (loaf pan, muffin tin, skillet). The more surface area that the vehicle has, the quicker the bread will bake and start to brown. So I made this at 325 degrees as opposed to 350, and baked for about 40-45 mins as opposed to 50 mins-one hour.
Note: make sure your bananas are nice and ripe, or this will not work. They need to have the little brown spots on the outside of the peel – that’s how you know they’re ready for baking!
Easy, Moist, Chocolate Chip Banana Bread in a Skillet
- 3 ripe bananas, peeled
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 2/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Directions
- Preheat oven to 325.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas and add the melted butter. Stir to combine.
- Add the sugar, egg, baking soda, vanilla, salt, and flour to the bowl. Stir gently to incorporate and make sure everything is well combined.
- Add most of the chocolate chips and stir in, but save some for sprinkling on top before baking.
- Grease your cast iron skillet with butter, then add the batter into the pan. Try to push the batter away from the middle, so when it rises it will be even.
- Bake for 40 minutes and check on it. Mine took around 45 to get really nice and brown on top, but just make sure a toothpick inserted comes out clean and you should be good to go! Let cool, slice and serve.
