Old-School Peanut Butter and Chocolate Banana Bread for #TwelveLoaves February

by Dorothy Reinhold on February 18, 2013


Print This Post Print This Post Peanut Butter and Chocolate Banana Bread on Shockingly Delicious. Recipe: https://www.shockinglydelicious.com/?p=11877

You take the best, classic, old-fashioned banana bread recipe — deeply banana flavored and simple, without a lot of fripperies — and then add a single frippery, for fun.

That’s how to (1.) wow your friends, and (2.) use up the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups that are inexplicably hanging around after the last candy holiday.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Banana Bread on Shockingly Delicious. Recipe: https://www.shockinglydelicious.com/?p=11877The hardest part of this recipe is going to be chopping up the Reese’s Cups without eating any of them. The smell alone will tempt you, but just tell yourself you need all those little pieces for the recipe, and that candy will taste even better paired with banana.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups chopped on Shockingly DeliciousJoining me in February bread baking this month are the #TwelveLoaves bloggers, a merry band of bread bakers led by Lora of Cake Duchess. We’re here to help you Twelve Loaves Logoconquer your fear of the oven, should you need encouragement. Bake along with us, put the #TwelveLoaves hashtag in your blog post title, and then add your bread to our link-up, below.

It’s already a delicious month!

Recipe: Old-School Peanut Butter and Chocolate Banana Bread

Summary: The best classic, simple banana bread is married with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for a snack or dessert that pleases everyone. Let the bananas get black skinned for supreme, deep banana flavor.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil (can use half canola and half mildest flavored olive oil)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium) *see banana hint below
  • 1/3 cup Daisy Light Sour Cream (regular version is fine, or can even use Greek yogurt)
  • Reese's Peanut Butter Cups on Shockingly Delicious2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons ground flax (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 5 (.75-ounce) Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, chopped in a small dice

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 350F degrees. Mist bottom of a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan (or 3 mini loaf pans) with nonstick spray. Set aside.
  2. In large bowl, beat together sugar and oil. Add eggs, banana, sour cream, vanilla and salt and blend well. Stir in flax (if using), and baking soda. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup and level off. Add flour and chopped Peanut Butter Cups and stir gently, just until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not overstir or bread will be tough. Pour/scrape into prepared pan(s).
  3. Bake 60 minutes (40 minutes for mini loaves), or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool 10-15 minutes. Remove from pan and finish cooling bread on a rack if you can; this keeps it from getting soggy from condensation. If using foil mini loaf pans, you may cool the bread in the pans.
  4. When completely cool, store at room temperature in a covered container or zipper-top plastic bag.
  5. Makes 1 large loaf (12 slices), or 3 mini loaves.

*Banana hint

Black Bananas on Shockingly DeliciousSpeaking of ripe bananas, you will have your best banana bread if you use dead black bananas. They should be entirely black, and maybe with a couple of little fruit flies lazily circling them. (I am not kidding about the flies.) I have a little tutorial on perfect bananas here. When bananas are super duper ripe, you can slit the top and just squirt them out of their skin like toothpaste, into a 1-cup measuring cup. (How’s THAT for an image?) If they are slightly less ripe, peel bananas and put them in a wide, flat bowl. Mash with a potato masher, and scrape the banana mash into the measuring cup to make sure it measures 1 cup. Bananas differ greatly in size, so it is worth measuring the mash to make sure you get the amount right.

Preparation time: 8 minutes
Cooking time: 38-60 minutes (depending on 1 or 3 loaves)
Diet type: Vegetarian
Number of servings (yield): 12
Culinary tradition: USA (Traditional)
My rating: 5 stars:  ★★★★★

Twelve Loaves for February!

This month, bake any bread and post it with the #TwelveLoaves hashtag in the title between Monday, Feb. 18 and Thursday, Feb. 28. Then add your post to the link-up below.

Happy baking!


{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Renee February 20, 2013 at 5:35 pm

Oh now… you know you snuck in a bite or two of the candy. Admit it. I wouldn’t be strong enough and would have to buy extra just so I could have a bite or two while making the bread. And speaking of the bread – YUM!

Reply

Dorothy February 21, 2013 at 4:26 am

Renee,
I am not admitting ANYTHING!

Reply

Lora @cakeduchess February 19, 2013 at 7:55 pm

Oh yes!! My heart skipped a beat when I saw the Reese’s. A secret problem I have and now I can add them to banana bread:)

Reply

Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom February 18, 2013 at 11:36 pm

Dorothy,
I love chocolate banana bread and I LOVE that you added Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. . uh. . YUM!!! love this!

Reply

Faye February 18, 2013 at 6:30 pm

Loved your ripe banana description! I’d love to bake this bread but I don’t stock peanut butter cups, so I’ll have to think of an alternative.

Reply

Nathasha February 18, 2013 at 6:12 am

Two favorite ingredients: banana & chocolate
Love it!
Never knew about the blackened skin bananas
Thanks

Reply

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