Chocolate Peanut Banana Bread

Our post for bananas foster bread did not stop us from exploring other options. The recent cover of Cooking Light had a peanut banana bread that encouraged us to mix it up with traditional banana bread again. We introduced chocolate into the mix and created a Resee’s version of the bread. Do you remember the original commercial for those cups? I decided to let google bring me back in time and it did not disappoint with a clip of the ad found here. Did we really dress like that?

The bread had good flavor and texture but we would rank it below the fosters version. The peanut butter added to the bread did not really push a peanut butter flavor through the bread like the chocolate did. If you got a bite with the glaze the flavor was there but only with the glaze. Perhaps some experiments with some flavor extracts like the peanut butter one offered by King Arthur Flour might work better. The chocolate flavor was clearly there. It is still a good recipe that we will work to improve. Ours did not have the same glaze color as that on the magazine, but peanut butters can be different and of course we added chocolate.

RECIPE

1 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6.75 oz all-purpose flour (about 1 – 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/3 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate (chips or chopped)
2 tablespoon chopped dry-roasted peanuts
Cooking spray

Glaze:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon chocolate syrup
1 tablespoon 1% low-fat milk
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add the granulated and brown sugars and beat again until blended.

Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add the flour mixture to banana mixture and blend together until uniform in appearance. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from the loaf from the oven and cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan and allow to cool.

Combine the powdered sugar, milk, and 1 tablespoon of peanut butter in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle or spread the glaze over bread. I found that an offset spatula helped here. Once the peanut glaze is completed drizzle the chocolate syrup on the top. You can use a spoon or I simply used the Hershey’s dark chocolate bottle with the cap only slightly open.

Yield 1 loaf
Servings 16

Modified from Cooking Light