Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

When I was little, summer meant two things: Swimming Lessons and Bible School. We lived in the middle of nowhere, so this was really the only time I ever got to see anyone besides my family and the younger kids a half mile down the road.

Days of swimming lessons were the only time we ever got to go to the pool. All other swimming experiences involved muddy waters, inner tubes, rope swings, crawdad catching and fish nibbling my toes. Oh, and leeches. Not that I'm complaining...it was a great time :)

Besides playing Red Rover, what stands out most vividly in my mind from Bible School is the snacks. Specifically, the Green Goddess dressing used for vegetable dip and the slices of bananas spread with peanut butter. Yuuummmmm.

I came across this recipe from a blog I follow called Sugar Plum. I love her. She travels around to cooking competitions and creates recipes that always sound incredible (no matter how off-the-wall the ingredients sound). I flashed back to Bible School and knew I had to try it immediately.

Use a mixer to combine the peanut butter, sugars, bananas and butter.
Keep mixing. You want all the banana chunks to blend in. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix well.
Add flour and mix gently.
Add in the milk and mix gently.
Pour in to a greased pan and bake.
Bring this out and let it cool. It's hard, I know, but if you cut into this right away, it will crumble to pieces.
Slice and enjoy.
I am making this again. I think I might up the peanut butter a little bit and cut back on the chocolate chips. I like a lot of peanut butter.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 medium ripe mashed bananas
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, divided use
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
1 1/2 teaspoons turbinado sugar, optional
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray or butter.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together banana, peanut butter, 2 tablespoons butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes; beat in eggs and vanilla extract until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in milk and flour mixture until just combined; stir in chocolate chips
Pour batter into prepared pan; bake for 50 minutes. Remove pan from oven, melt additional tablespoon butter, brush evenly over the top, and top with turbinado sugar. Continue to bake an additional 5 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool for 20 minutes before running a knife around outside edges, removing, and transferring to a wire rack to cool an additional 30 minutes before slicing.