1/3 cup almond milk (or your preferred non-dairy milk)
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons boiling water (divided)
Categories
Baked Good
Dessert
Quickbread
Cuisine
American
Jewish
Steps
Prepare boiling water, no need to measure yet. Also, preheat oven to 350 F.
Mash the banana in a large mixing bowl until relatively smooth. It should take 3 average sized ones, but spoon the mashed ‘nanas into a measuring cup to make sure, then return to the mixing bowl. Beat in the sugar, canola oil, milk and vanilla.
Now add the flour, baking soda and salt and gently mix just to incorporate. It’s okay if there is some flour still visible, just be careful not to overmix at this point.
Scoop one cup of the batter up and transfer it to a separate mixing bowl. Now, in a small tea cup mix the cocoa powder with 3 tablespoons boiling water and stir vigorously with a fork until the chocolate is dissolved. Add this chocolate mixture to the one cup of banana and mix until the chocolate is thoroughly smooth and incorporated.
Now back to the original plain banana batter; add 3 tablespoons of boiling water and mix the batter just until relatively smooth.
Here comes the fun part, it’s time to marble! Lightly grease an 8×4 loaf pan. Scoop alternate 1/2 cupfuls of chocolate/banana batter into the loaf pan. Nothing has to be precise here, in fact, the more random, the better. Once all of the batter is in, take a butter knife and swirl it through the batter in circular directions for about 10 seconds.
Bake for 55 minutes. Use a butter knife to test for doneness. Let cool and enjoy!
Reviews
Christine on 2026-03-23 (5 stars): This is probably my most-made recipe from Isa Does It (or maybe the chocolate cake, which is the foundation of every bday cake I have made my kids for ages). Everyone loves it and asks for the recipe, and the marbling makes it look like you are a pro baker that actually knows what you are doing even if all you can handle is following a recipe. It's just fantastic!
VUK on 2026-02-23 (5 stars): This looks great when you slice it open! It's one to impress your friends with. The extra dishes may seem like a bit of a faff, but it's worth it for how pretty it looks. It tastes amazing too.
Mychal Nemetchek on 2026-02-22 (5 stars): My go-to banana bread recipe, it's so good and the marbling gives it a little something extra! I've added chocolate chips, nuts, and made it as muffins. Sometimes I don't do the marbling part but the base recipe is still perfect. Highly recommended!
Molly on 2026-02-21 (5 stars): I’ve made this recipe doezens of times over the years and it always hits the spot! Easy and comforting ❤️
JJ Indeliclae on 2025-12-24 (5 stars): This recipe's such a winner, please never take it down! So easy and so good. I don't visit this site as often because I don't do cane sugar anymore, but I used 1/2 c coconut sugar in this recipe since I remembered liking it (though I'm not a big fan of banana bread in general), and it still turned out great. It also rose impressively with no adaptation: perfect texture! Thank you, Isa Chandra!
Jill on 2025-11-13 (5 stars): I've been making this banana bread for years. It's the best!
