This Mexican Chocolate Banana Bread is exotic, sweet, and supremely moist with the addition of sour cream. It is everything you love about classic banana bread with a few additional favorites—chocolate, pecans, and cinnamon.
Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with 1 tablespoon butter and dust with flour, tapping out any excess.
Using a potato masher, mash peeled ripe bananas until smooth.
Melt remaining butter and add to mashed bananas.
Stir in crema, sugar, salt, beaten egg, and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and grated chocolate.
Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir until just incorporated and then fold in pecans.
Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top with a spatula.
Bake, rotating halfway through, until batter is set and sides are starting to pull away from pan, and a toothpick inserted into center of bread comes out clean, 60 to 65 minutes.
Cool in pan on a wire rack at least 15 minutes.
Run a butter knife around the perimeter of the pan to loosen loaf, then tap pan gently on its side until loaf releases. Transfer to a cutting board or plate and let cool completely before slicing.
Notes
No very ripe bananas? Place bananas on a cookie sheet with the peels on and bake at 250 degrees for about 15 minutes. The bananas ripen, soften, and sweeten.
No Mexican chocolate? Substitute with chocolate chips or omit. Double the amount of cinnamon if not using Mexican chocolate.
No nuts? Feel free to omit.
Can I freeze chocolate banana bread? To freeze this bread, let it cool fully, then wrap it in plastic wrap. Place it in an airtight freezer safe bag and seal tightly.
How to thaw frozen banana bread? Remove it from the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge overnight. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes to warm it.
How long will banana bread last? It will last about 3 to 5 days wrapped in plastic (zip lock bag) stored at room temperature.