Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, revisited.

[PSA: Wordless Wednesdays has moved to currently unnamed Friday in honor of this recipe.]

Hi, my name is Cakey, and I’m perpetually five years old.

I like to make messes. I like to play with the bubbles in the sink when I wash dishes. This weekend, I bought two coloring books. Last week, I ordered chicken strips for dinner with friends. When I was at a boy’s house, he asked what I wanted to drink – of course, I asked for a juice box. Part of me still wants to scream when I sit down in the dentist’s chair. A very large part of me.

Eventually, adult mode kicks in – flour is swept up, Anna Karenina is opened & read, and yes, please, I would like a side salad.

Oh, and packing for school happens.

It’s that time of year again, when all my friends leave for college, leaving a week between me having friends and me heading back to campus. Thus, separation anxiety sets in, sadness ensues, and my oven mysteriously turns on.

I went back to the start to revisit one of my very first recipes. Kathryn & I baked it with the idea of sending some of it to a boy. Strangely enough, I baked it again this time with the same intention, for the same boy who is once again going to be six hours away from me for a few months. C’est la vie.

At least this time he’s fully aware of the intention behind the banana bread. I’m twice as alluring when I’m holding a freshly baked loaf of one of his favorite foods.

Feminine wiles, indeed.

Enough of the romance mush. Allow me to turn your attention to banana mush instead.

I made a few more tweaks from the recipe I originally adapted from the great Joy the Baker, although very few. There seem to be varying opinions on the addition of vanilla extract to banana bread – this time, I added it to deepen the sweetness of the bananas. Self-control is null and void when it comes to vanilla.

Happy accident! My four pound Nestle chocolate chip bag (finally) ran out, leaving me with no choice but to chop up some dark chocolate sitting in my fridge. Chopped chocolate is, to me, more aesthetically pleasing than

This has become an all-butter/no oil recipe. A lot of bakers like using oil in breads and muffins to keep them moist (hold up, I hate that word with a passion. Unfortunately, it’s the only one that conveys what I’m trying to say), but then you miss out on the flavor the butter gives.

Finally, I added a crumble. Banana bread covered in sugar, oatmeal, and walnuts makes it a little more special.

It’s as spectacular as it was before, only better. Do I contradict myself? (Very well, then I contradict myself.) This is probably the best banana bread you’ll ever eat – the perfect balance of sweet banana, smooth peanut butter, and just enough chocolate to round it out.

I’m still five years old when I make this bread, considering I had to taste-test it. Several times. This might’ve fueled my recent child-like spontaneity.

Embrace your inner child.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (printable recipe here)
makes 1 loaf pan (can use a cake pan or muffin tin)
originally from Joy the Baker
adapted from yours truly

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups (about 4 medium) mashed oh-so-very ripe* bananas
• 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks
• 1/2 cup walnuts

Optional oat-nut topping

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
• 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a loaf pan; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combing flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
3. In a separate medium mixing bowl, combine mashed bananas, yogurt, peanut butter, and melted butter.
4. Beat in eggs, then sugars, until mixture is smooth.
5. Barely fold the wet ingredients into the dry, until the mixture is mostly combined but a few flour streaks still remain. Fold in chocolate and nuts.
6. If desired, in a small bowl, combine brown sugar, walnuts, and oats for oat-nut topping. Set aside.
7. Pour batter into prepared baking pan; sprinkle with oat-nut topping or brown sugar. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 20 minutes. Invert loaf onto a wire rack to cool completely. Devour.

*NOTE: If your bananas aren’t yet ripe but you’re craving banana bread anyways, place them (skins still ON) on a baking sheet and stick them in a 350 degree F oven for about 35 minutes. The peels will turn black, but the inside will be ripe and sweet (and very easy to mash). Proceed with recipe.

Black banana peels, mmmmm.

 

Related articles

• Peanut Butter Banana Bread (pixelbaking.wordpress.com)
• Peanut Butter yummyness. (lyricsandchocolate.wordpress.com)
• Spicing Up the Traditional Banana Bread Recipe (baking.answers.com)
• Recipes | Banana Bread Bliss (thejournalist.ie)
• Grandma’s Banana Bread (virgoandpisces.com)
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread (debbielount.wordpress.com)
• Holy Monkey’s: Banana Bread (adventuresweseek.com)

Hey, you! Yes, you! What do you think of my tweaks – unnecessary or delicious? Do you have a favorite banana bread recipe or add-in of your own?

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

Hello. It’s been far too long. Life is so crazy. Can you ever forgive me?

Here, I brought you some incredibly delicious banana bread to make it better.

Or banana mush. Or banana muffins. Or banana cookies.

Or whatever form fits your fancy.

I must first add a brief disclaimer: the oatmeal must first be ground in some sort of food-processing device before adding the rest of the ingredients. If your kitchen just happens to be lacking in a food processor, place the oatmeal in a large plastic bag and use a meat mallet (or some other utensil to that effect) to grind it up to a meal-like consistency.

Second disclaimer: your batter may not make it into the pan. Really, there would have been more of the final product had I possessed enough self-control to keep my fingers out of the mixing bowl.

Whoops.

However, there is no worry of potential acquisition of salmonella; this is an eggless recipe! Which means no stray eggshells will end up in your bread (also, I originally typed “beard” instead of “bread”. Probably a sign I should drink something caffeinated).

How many times have I already raved about peanut butter? Or peanut butter and chocolate? Or peanut butter and banana? Or…peanut butter? Probably enough for you to remember that I really, really love peanut butter.

And this recipe combines many of my favorite things: bananas, chocolate, peanut butter, and oatmeal. Oatmeal is one of my favorite baking ingredients; not only does it add a beautifully chewy texture and substance, but it also adds a distinct, nutty flavor. Oats are intrinsically satisfying.

Aren’t they cute?

Despite the simple ingredients, the taste is sublime. With nothing added in excess, the flavors are complementary: just enough brown sugar to subtly emphasize the cinnamon, enough peanut butter to notice but not overpower, and a perfect amount of oats to lend their chewiness but not dominate.

Why can’t people work together so harmoniously like that?

No matter. Maybe this bread will bring about world peace.

The active time of this recipe is not consuming. After you have measured out the oats and blended them, simply add the rest of the ingredients, mix, and bake. Or, if you prefer, omit the baking powder and simply eat the batter straight. Yes, it’s that good.

If you prefer muffins, mini or standard or enormous, or a cake-pan sized loaf, or some other manifestation, I’m sure those will work just as well. Just be aware of the potential time adjustment.

Oh, and feel free to add more chocolate chips.

Easy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (Egg-free!…and with no-bake option!)
Slightly adapted from Baker Bettie
Makes 1 loaf pan or about 6 mini loaves Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups oatmeal (old-fashioned)
• 3-4 medium mashed ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chips)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease the loaf pan(s) and set aside.
2. Measure oatmeal into blender or food processor and pulse until powder or meal consistency, or little less fine if desired.
3. Combine oatmeal and remaining ingredients, except for chocolate chips, to a mixing bowl. Stir until combined.
4. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into prepare pan(s). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until edges are browned and toothpick in center comes out clean. Devour.

No-bake option: Omit the baking powder and add up to an extra cup of oatmeal (not ground). Spoon mixture onto yogurt/etc., or eat straight from the bowl.

Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Baking and blogging during midterms?

Challenge accepted.

One of the food staples among my friends and me here at school is bananas, one of the few fresh fruits our cafeteria offers. At one point last week, however, we realized that we had an excess of quickly ripening bananas in our dorm rooms. Of course, the logical conclusion we reached was to bake banana bread.

So, Sunday morning, we stole into one of the other dorms – one with a well-equipped, clean, roomy kitchen.

Remember Kathryn from my last post? She is a self-professed “I do not particularly enjoy baking” woman.

This recipe converted her.

What happens when you have a lot of bananas, a 26-oz jar of peanut butter, and two bags of chocolate chips?

Miracles happen, my friends. Delicious, warm, gooey miracles.

As you probably already know, proper baking things are often in short supply in college. Since there wasn’t a loaf pan in sight, I opted for a muffin tin, then decided on a round cake pan. Ok, maybe it was a metal pie pan. Honestly, at this point, it’s a miracle I know where my dorm is and how to tie my shoes. Whatever. That being said, I was a little anxious about it would turn out.

Of course, there was another snafu: no eggs, despite a desperate wild goose chase to procure a few by raiding three dorm kitchens . Not a one. Not even egg substitute. According to someone on Google, however, apparently you can use applesauce and baking powder as an egg in a pinch. Number two on the list of potentially disastrous things in this recipe.

A third “disaster”? Some of the bananas weren’t as ripe as anticipated…banana bread is only as good as its bananas. Again, thanks to Google, that was quickly remedied by throwing the bananas in the hot oven as we mixed all the ingredients. (for the full tip on ripening bananas, see the very bottom note of this post)

So, with great apprehension, Kathryn & I measured, poured, and mixed (in REAL bowls, with REAL spoons and a REAL whisk).

Unnecessary worrying, as usual. As soon as I had a taste of the batter (without any potential of contracting salmonella), I knew this was going to be a great loaf of bread.

I have a thing for peanut butter. It takes me less than a fortnight to finish a whole jar. I pile it onto bananas, toast, apples oatmeal, anything that would taste reasonably delicious with the addition of peanut paste. On particularly stressful days, I throw chocolate chips into a jar and spoon it out. Adding my favorite combination of dark chocolate and peanut butter to banana bread was a surefire way to make my favorite kind of sweet bread…even better.

This bread is scrumptious. Heavenly. Fantastic. Divine. Ambrosial (isn’t that a fantastic word?). Dessert-like, but actually healthy. Sort of like eating a peanut butter and chocolate sandwich…on banana bread. The sugar adds a spectacularly nice crunch (has anyone ever regretted topping anything sweet with sugar?). None of the flavors overpower the others; in fact, they accent one another beautifully.

This is the perfect marriage of banana, chocolate, and peanut butter, the paradigm of baking combinations. And you are invited to this celebration. A mostly guilt-free celebration, I might add: minimal butter, good fat from the olive oil, plenty of fruit, protein from the peanut butter and yogurt. Next time, I want to reduce the amount of granulated sugar – so feel free to use less sugar, more bananas, different kinds if chocolate chips…or more sugar. Whichever.

Because this was baked in a circular pan, the slices themselves looked more like scones than pieces of bread. There’s something more geometrically satisfying about eating a triangle over a rectangle or square.

I’m convinced that only the addition of walnuts or pecans could’ve made this yummier.

Oh, and more peanut butter.

Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
recipe adapted from Joy the Baker
(makes one loaf pan – could also use a round cake pan or muffin tin)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour (white whole wheat, all-purpose, or a mixture – I used all-purpose)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe* bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
• 1/3 cup plain or vanilla fat-free Greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup all-natural peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tbsp olive oil (or oil of your choice)
• 2 large eggs or egg substitute (since I didn’t have egg access, I used 1/2 cup applesauce + 2 tsp baking powder)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 – 1 cup dark chocolate chips (depending on your preference)
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup nuts (peanuts, walnuts, pecans, or a mixture…or whatever other nuts you so desire)
• optional brown and/or turbinado to sprinkle on top

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a loaf pan; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
3. In a medium bowl, mix mashed bananas, yogurt, peanut butter, melted butter, and oil.
4. Add eggs and sugars to the banana mixture until no sugar lumps remain.
5. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until everything is well mixed. Mix in dark chocolate chips and nuts.
6. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and, if desired, sprinkle with brown and/or turbinado sugar. Bake for 55-65 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean (mine was done when the edges started peeling away from the pan).
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 20 minutes (or eat straight out of the pan), then invert loaf onto a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Toast, microwave, eat straight from the pan, slather with more peanut butter or melted butter, dip into a cold glass of milk, etc. Devour.

*NOTE: If your bananas aren’t ripe but you’re craving banana bread anyways, place them (skins still ON) on a baking sheet and stick them in a 350 degree F oven for about 45 minutes. The peels will turn black, but the inside will be ripe and sweet (and very easy to mash). Proceed with recipe.

PS: if you’re like me and express your affection for others by giving them food, this is a good recipe to whip up and send, or randomly show up on their doorstep with. It works, trust me.