Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Have you ever taken a piece of banana bread and smeared peanut butter all over it?  I did not discover what an amazingly wonderful treat this was until about a year ago.  I know, I know... Elvis thought of this brilliant concoction decades before I was born.  What can I say?  I'm a bit behind.  Forgive me?  Anyway, I really like the contrast of the sweet bananas with salty peanuts.  So imagine how giddy I was when I came across a recipe that combined both for me into one ready-to-eat loaf of deliciousness!

Yup, bananas get brown when you freeze them. Still taste the same though!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker, who got it from CookingLight


1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal [confession: I didn't have any so I just left it out.]
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1/3 cup plain or vanilla fat free yogurt
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

1.  Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Set aside. 

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together flours, flaxseed meal, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon and ground allspice. 

3.  In a medium bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, yogurt, peanut butter and melted butter. Whisk in eggs and sugars. Blend mixture until no sugar lumps remain. 

4.  Pour the wet mixture into the larger bowl with the dry ingredients. Fold together with a spatula until no more flour bits remain. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. 

FYI, the batter smells really peanut buttery and really good

5.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before running a butter knife along the edges of the pan and inverting the bread onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

6.  This bread lasts, well wrapped at room temperature, for up to 4 days. It is also great to store, well wrapped, in the freezer.  (Ooooo!!!!  I sense a "Get Ahead" opportunity here!)


Tip: Don't think you have to wait for bananas to turn black in order to make banana bread.  Thanks to my Fruit Monster son, we always have bananas in the house.  He likes to eat them perfectly ripe with little to no brown spots on them.  Any bananas that end up ripening past anyone's enjoyment, I smash up, put into quart-size freezer bags, and toss in the freezer.  I think have about 6 bags in there just waiting for me to get the urge to bake.