I enjoyed this bread. I did. Unfortunately, I left it in the (toaster) oven for a tad too long, so it ended up a little dry… Very dissapointing. I recommend checking it 10 minutes before time with a toothpick. Make sure there are still some lingering crumbs sticking to the toothpick when you pull it out. Mine was totally clean when I checked… so yeah. Dry.
Sigh.
Anyways, if you’re a fan of peanut butter, chocolate, and bananas, you should enjoy this quick bread. It’s pretty. It’s yummy. It’s not overly sweet. And all the fat comes from peanut butter, which is a nice change from butter an veggie oil. I veered a little from the orginal recipe and used mini chocolate chips in my bread (thinking it would be nicer that regular size). Much to my chagrin, they barely stood out from the chocolate swirls. So next time I’m going for real chocolate chips. Ghiradelli makes them in size HUGE if you get the dark chocolate variety. Or was it milk chocolate? I forget. But you can use whatever you want. The original recipe also called for peanut butter chips, but I went for all chocolate instead. I might try peanut chips next time to add more of that peanut butter flavor. So much for adding my own spin. Overall, good recipe. Just don’t over bake it like I did : )
Marbled Peanut Butter and Chocolate Banana Bread
Recipe from Sugar Plum Blog
Ingredients:
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup semi or dark chocolate chips (I used 2/3 semi sweet chocolate, and omitted the peanut butter chips)
1/3 cup peanut butter chips (I would use these next time)
2 medium bananas, mashed
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch loaf pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; whisk in chocolate and peanut butter chips until combined. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together banana and peanut butter until creamy, about 1 minute; beat in granulated sugar and brown sugar until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture, alternating with milk, until well combined – about 2 minutes.
Divide half of the batter into medium bowl; sift in cocoa powder, and beat until combined. Alternate spoonfuls of banana batter and chocolate batter into the pan. When all the batter is in the pan, swirl a knife sparingly through the batters to marble them. Sprinkle with additional chocolate and peanut butter chips, if desired.
Bake for 55-60 minutes (check early like I didn’t do!) or until bread pulls away from pan, is well risen, deep golden brown, and a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour; run a knife around outer edges and invert onto wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
