Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Updated 6.1.2018.

Here’s what I wrote about this recipe in 2010:

Recently my sister made a recipe similar to this one, and her venture into peanut butter banana bread inspired me to try my hand at my own version. Also I needed to get rid of blackened bananas.

This is a recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips; however, in my opinion, it tastes more like peanut butter bread with a hint of banana and some flecks of chocolate. I would definitely adjust this recipe if I made it again. Starting with adding more banana.

Incidentally, as I was peeling the bananas in preparation for this recipe, I found myself thinking: is there such thing as bananas that are too ripe? I hope not. I used the blackened and bruised bananas (that had been in my fridge for over a week) in the below recipe anyway.

A few things:

• I don’t know what your mom taught you about making banana bread, but mine taught me to mash the bananas on wax paper with a fork. The mashed banana easily slides off the wax paper if you curl the ends of the wax paper toward each other over the bowl.
• There’s no butter or oil in this recipe. (Perhaps that makes this recipe ‘healthy’? Incidentally the original recipe called for wheat flour, but I don’t keep that on hand.) I upped the amount of peanut butter called for in the original recipe because I love peanut butter, and I was worried the batter would be too dry.
• I used 1 per cent milk because that’s what I had in the house.
• The original recipe yielded two loaves of bread. I squeezed the batter into one loaf.

I was delighted when I took this bread out of the oven because the bread did not sink in the middle. I can’t remember a time that I’ve made banana bread when the bread hasn’t sunk in the middle. However, the domed top was not enough to win me over. The taste was a bit lackluster. I will say, though, according to the website where I got this recipe; the bread is even better the second day. So I guess we’ll see tomorrow!

ingredients.

• 2 ½ c. all-purpose flour
• ¾ c. brown sugar, packed (or more, to taste)
• 1 T. baking powder
• ¾ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• 1 ½ c. mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
• 1 c. milk
• 1 c. creamy peanut butter
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• ½ c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (mini-chocolate chips work best)

directions.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9 1/2 ×5 1/2 inch loaf pan with butter.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In a medium bowl, combine mashed bananas, milk, peanut butter, vanilla and egg.
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir just until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.
4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool completely.

So not sure what went awry in 2010 but when I recreated it again in 2018 I thought it came out great with the perfect balance of peanut butter and banana. I added chocolate as an accent on the top but in retrospect wish I would have stirred chocolate in the batter. I also drizzled a bit if raw honey over the top before baking.

I was careful to make sure I had the correct measurement of mashed banana and only made half a recipe this go round. I don’t love when recipes call for 2 bananas or 3 bananas because bananas clearly come in different sizes. (Perhaps the last time I made this recipe I didn’t bother to measure!)

Recipe rating: 