Peanut Butter Banana Bread (with Mini Reese’s Cups!)

I’m writing this as I procrastinate from doing math, so I should probably make it short and sweet.

I love banana bread and have a great recipe that I usually make, with bananas and cinnamon and all sorts of deliciousness going on–check it out here.

But, every once in a while, you need to change it up.  Enter peanut butter and chocolate and inspiration from this recipe.

Bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate are a great combination, so what could be bad about this?  It’s moist with a nice peanut butter taste that doesn’t overwhelm the banana flavor.  And it has mini Reese’s cups in it.  (Chocolate chips would be fine, too, but I wanted to go all out with the chocolate-peanut butter thing here!)

Personally, I’m partial to my usual recipe, but this was a great change of pace.  It’s especially great warmed up after a rainy trip to the dog park:

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread (with Mini Reese’s Cups!)
makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 brown bananas, mashed
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup buttermilk*
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used coconut)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup mini peanut butter cups

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a standard loaf pan with foil or parchment paper so that it hangs over the sides.  Grease the foil/parchment paper lightly.  In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a separate bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, peanut butter, brown sugar, buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla.  Whisk until smooth and the sugar is no longer grainy.  Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined, ensuring that the flour is completely mixed in.  Stir in the peanut butter cups.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing into an even layer.  Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs.  I recommend tenting the bread with foil after about 30 minutes of baking so that the top doesn’t brown too much.  Let the bread cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes, then use the foil/parchment paper overhang to remove it from the pan, placing it on a wire rack to cool completely.

*If you don’t have buttermilk, mix together 1/3 cup milk and 1 tablespoon of vinegar.  Set aside to “sour” for a few minutes, then use as a buttermilk substitute!

Banana Bread

I promise I always have good intentions when it comes to bananas.  When I stare at the bunches in the grocery store, I always think, “oh, five bananas?  That’s not that many!”  And despite my good intentions, I fool myself again, and about a week later find some brown bananas on my counter that need to be used for something. 

But what can you make with brown bananas???  Banana bread!

Granted this happens every time I go to the store.  Which means I have brown bananas ALL THE TIME.  In fact, there are some sitting on my counter at this very moment.  Anyways, Junior and I were hiking the other day to relish our last few days of summer and I was pondering the age-old question: what should I make with my current supply of brown bananas?  After a few miles of hiking, my brain was clouded with visions of banana bread.  Junior’s was not–he was probably wondering why I was not letting him run up the mountain like he wanted to. 

Anyways, I realized I hadn’t had a really good piece of banana bread in a long time.  Typically I use bananas for their natural sweetness in “healthy” versions of various baked goods and it’s been a while since I’ve made just a standard, classic banana bread.  Which meant, of course, that I needed to make some banana bread as soon as possible.  Further proving this claim was the fact that I recently bought mini loaf pans, and they were just begging to be used.

So, after Junior and I got to the top of the hike, we literally ran down the mountain (definitely Junior’s idea; not mine) and headed home.  Junior immediately passed out and I was able to start baking some banana bread!  And, if you don’t have mini loaf pans, you can make it in a regular loaf pan. 

Junior at the top of the mountain!

Post-hike Junior…usually he doesn’t like having his photo taken unless I have treats for him, but he gave a new meaning to “dog-tired” when we got home from our hike.

Banana Bread
makes 1 standard loaf or 3 mini loaves

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tablespoon half and half (milk also works, I just didn’t have any!)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
coarse sugar for sprinkling on top

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and lightly grease a standard loaf pan or three mini loaf pans.  Using a mixer, or by hand, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and mix well.  In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with the half and half (or milk), vanilla, and cinnamon.  Add the banana mixture to the butter, sugar, and eggs.  Mix to combine.  Stir together the flour baking soda, baking powder, and salt and add to the wet ingredients, stirring only until the flour disappears.  Don’t overmix the batter; it will lead to a heavy, dense banana bread.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan (or pans) and sprinkle the tops with a little coarse sugar for an added crunch, if desired.  Bake for 1 hour and 10 -15 minutes if using a standard loaf pan, and 40-45 minutes if using the mini pans, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.  Slice and enjoy!

This bread is delicious toasted with butter, jam, or cinnamon sugar!  It also freezes well.