Peanut Butter and Chocolate Banana Bread

Yeah... you read that correctly.  Are you salivating yet?  I know I am.   I've got a batch of it in the oven right now, and I can't wait to devour it, probably still hot from the pan.  If it's anything like last time, I will be too impatient, and will try to get it out of the pan while it's still too hot.  This will cause it to fall apart, which will of course require me to immediately devour it.  I mean, its broken, so it must be eaten right away, right??

I got the original recipe here:  Southern Living's Cream Cheese Banana Bread .  Since I can't stand walnuts or pecans in bread, I omitted those.  It's a delicious bread all on its own.  After I got comfortable with the recipe I began to play with it just a smidge; mostly by experimenting with add-ins.  Chocolate chips was the obvious place to start, and the kids loved it when I added a bunch of mini chocolate chips to it.  Then one day I was in the grocery store and stumbled upon These Bad Boys .  It just so happened I had been planning on making banana bread when we got home, and I was in that particular aisle to get just plain ol' chocolate chips.  When my daughter and I saw these, we knew our banana bread experience was about to reach a whole new level.  I mean, everyone knows that chocolate, peanut butter, and banana is just a exquisite ménage a trois.   We were so right. 

This bread seriously doesn't last a day in this house.  

Update 11/11/2024:  I usually make these as muffins now, so I'm adding the instructions for those.  Same ingredients and quantities. My family loves these, and they are often requested for get-togethers and potlucks.  I have even had them requested in lieu of a birthday cake!

*See the notes after the recipe for variations I use. 

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Banana Bread

makes: 2 loaves or 24(+) regular-sized muffins. 

time: a little over 1 hour for the loaves, and about 20-30 minutes for the muffins, plus cooling time

Ingredients:

3 cups flour 

1/2 teaspoonful baking soda
1/2 teaspoonful baking powder
1/2 teaspoonful salt
3/4 cup butter (or 1&1/2 sticks), softened
8oz cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar 
2 large eggs
1&1/2 cups mashed banana 
1/2 teaspoonful vanilla
11oz bag of chocolate and peanut butter chips, or whatever add-in floats your fancy.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F.   Prepare two loaf pans by spraying them with cooking spray, or oiling and flouring them. 

In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.
3 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt

In a large bowl, combine the butter and cream cheese.  Mix until creamy.  Add in the sugar and mix until well combined and fluffy.  Add in eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly.   Gradually add in flour mixture and mix until just combined.  The dough will get a bit thick here.   

3/4 cup (or 1&1/2 sticks) butter, 8oz cream cheese, 2 cups sugar, 2 eggs

Add in bananas and vanilla.  Dump in the entire bag of chocolate peanut butter chips (and / or whatever add-ins you chose) and mix until well combined. 
,mashed banana, 1/2 tsp vanilla, bag of peanut butter & chocolate chips 

For bread: Divide the batter between the two prepared loaf pans and bake for one hour. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the middle of the pan. It should come out with very little wet dough, and the edges will be a bit browned. I have to let mine completely cool before removing them from the pan, otherwise they fall apart.  As mentioned before, this just gives me good excuse to start devouring it right away.  However, if you are wanting a prettier presentation, you may want to wait.  =) 

For muffins:  Follow directions above, but instead of using the loaf pan, lightly spay 2 regular size muffin pans with baking spray, or line with cupcake holders.   Divide the batter between the two pans, filling the tins approximately 3/4 full.  Bake for about 20 minutes, and then check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into one of the muffins toward the middle of the pan. It should come out with very little wet dough, and the edges will be a bit browned.   Remove pans from oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before removing muffins to a cooling rack.  These can still be a bit crumbly if you remove them from the pan too soon, so try to let them cool completely.  

Enjoy!

Notes: 

I encourage you to play with this recipe to make it all your own, like I did.  Here is what I do / have done to give you an idea. 

Flour- I usually use a combination of 2 cups white all-purpose flour and 1 cup wheat flour. However, I've been known to switch those quantities up, or just use all white flour or all wheat flour.  

*I have never tried this with any sort of gluten-free flour, so I have no idea how that would turn out.  If you try it, let me know the results! 

Sugar- just like the flour, I usually divide this up as 1 cup white sugar and 1 cup lightly-packed brown sugar.  However, you can use all white sugar with delicious results.

*I have never tried this recipe using all brown sugar, or any sort of sugar alternative.  If you try it- let me know the results!

Banana- Feel free to adjust the amount of banana here. There is not a set amount needed. I typically just use whatever I have that is starting to get too ripe, usually around 2-3 bananas. Using more than 4 medium sized bananas may cause the dough to become a little too wet, so you may need to adjust the cooking time, or the amount of flour. 

Add-ins- as the title suggests, my go-to for this recipe is a bag of chocolate & peanut butter chips.  However, I've also used just chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips.  Just add it until the batter looks like it has enough.  I also imagine you could stir in some nuts if you like that.  Follow your taste buds!