Here’s my version of a peanut butter banana bread mixed with crunchy peanuts and chocolate chips. It’s moist, flavorful, and scattered with crunchy peanuts and chocolate chips.

Four slices of banana bread stacked on a board.

This peanut butter banana bread took many, many tries to perfect and I’m not gonna lie about that. The failures tasted ok but the texture was subpar.

I swirled peanut butter on the top before baking and it looked gorgeous, but the peanut butter dried after baking and crumbled off when sliced. Or how about the pictures with the two long sliced bananas on top? Try eating that after a day and tell me how that gooey mushy banana tastes. Goes to show, looks aren’t everything, folks. How many times do we have to drill that into our heads?

Then I swirled some peanut butter in the middle only to have the bread come out doughy in the center and that extra peanut butter was the straw that broke the camel’s back because it overflowed from the pan. Good thing I’m wise enough to use a baking sheet for these “just-in-case” scenarios.

So my friends, after many tries, (and I’m talking many!) I’ve ended up with this recipe that tastes delicious, has great texture, and won’t make a mess in your oven. Shall we see what it is?

Peanut butter and mashed bananas in a bowl.

An egg added to sugar and peanut butter in a bowl.

We’re going to start off using the typical amount of bananas - three medium - which comes to approximately 1 ½ cups. Creamy peanut butter, extra virgin olive oil, and dark brown sugar are responsible for keeping this bread moist.

If you’re a follower of the genetic chef, and you should be, you already know I use bourbon or some form of liqueur to flavor my baked goods. For this peanut butter banana bread, I decided to use whiskey to flavor my peanut butter banana bread.

WHISKEY?

IN PEANUT BUTTER BANANA BREAD?

If you want to get a little adventurous, try a peanut butter flavored whiskey. I use Skrewball peanut butter whiskey because I had it on hand. It was something I had to try and sounded interesting.

I used extra virgin olive oil and found it worked beautifully. A neutral oil also works well.

Measuring peanut butter can be a pain. I use this wonderful gadget and it makes it much easier.

Chocolate chips added to batter in a bowl.

I’ve found ½ cup of chocolate chips to be just the right amount. You would think more is better but I found less to be just fine. If you want more, add more. Just know it will create more volume in the pan. I don’t recommend more than one cup total.

I like to coat my baking pans with sugar just like I do when I make my blood orange olive oil loaf or my delicious zucchini bread. It's only a tablespoon but it gives a nice crust.

A loaf of baked peanut butter banana bread.

PEANUT BUTTER ICING TAKES THIS OVER THE TOP!

Here’s the icing on the cake or should I say peanut butter banana bread…

A creamy dreamy peanut butter icing tops this peanut butter banana bread and it’s gooooood. Scatter the top with some chopped salted peanuts and you have a masterpiece.

Peanut butter banana bread with peanut butter icing and chopped peanuts.

So how did peanut butter and banana start a relationship? I don’t know, let’s give Elvis the credit! I mean he sure loved his peanut butter and banana sandwiches. I bet he would have loved this peanut butter banana bread.

IF YOU LOVE THIS PEANUT BUTTER BANANA BREAD, TRY:

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Sliced peanut butter banana bread on a board.

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Here’s my version of a peanut butter banana bread mixed with crunchy peanuts and chocolate chips. It’s moist, flavorful, and scattered with crunchy peanuts and chocolate chips.

I use a fork to mix then switch to a spatula to scrape out the bowl.

Servings: loaf

Author: Natalie Gregory

Equipment Used

Baking Sheet

stoneware loaf pan

push up measuring cup

Spatula

Large Bowl

Ingredients

3 medium very ripe bananas about 1 ½ cups
¾ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon whiskey bourbon, or vanilla - See Note 1
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt See Note 2
1 ½ cups flour
½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
½ cup roasted peanuts I use salted peanuts
1 tablespoon sugar for pan

Glaze

¼ cup creamy peanut butter I used Skippy - See Note 3
1 tablespoon butter melted
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Topping:

3 tablespoons salted roasted peanuts chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325°.
Spray or butter a 9 x 5 loaf pan then sprinkle evenly with a tablespoon of sugar. This creates a delicious outer coating. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. It should measure roughly 1 ½ cups.
Stir in the peanut butter and oil.
Stir in brown sugar, egg, and whisky (or vanilla) into the bowl. Mix until it’s all combined.
Sprinkle in the flour mixture and mix just until the flour is incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and chopped peanuts then stir for 50 strokes.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
Place the pan onto a baking sheet (for easy removal and bake for 65 - 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. You can start checking at 65 minutes because ovens do vary, but make sure you test with a cake tester or toothpick. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes then carefully turn out the banana bread onto a wire rack to cool.

MAKE THE PEANUT BUTTER ICING:

When the bread has cooled, combine the peanut butter, butter and confectioners' sugar in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave in 20-second increments, stirring after each, until smooth. Let the icing sit until it has stiffened up a bit but still spreadable. Spread over the top of the bread, and sprinkle the peanuts on top. Let sit for 10 minutes to set up before slicing.

Notes

Note 1: I used peanut butter whiskey. Using alcohol shouldn’t alarm you. We are only using it for the taste. The alcohol cooks off. This is the same concept as using vanilla which is made with vodka.

Note 2: I use salted roasted peanuts and keep the salt as listed. You can reduce the salt in the recipe to ¼ teaspoon because we’re using salted peanuts, if desired. If using unsalted peanuts, keep the salt as is. You need salt for flavor.

Note 3: I’ve made this using crunchy peanut butter but it isn’t the best choice for presentation, otherwise it’s perfectly fine. If doesn’t matter to you and crunchy is what you have on hand, then use it.

Did you make this recipe? Tag @thegeneticchef and use #thegeneticchef and tell me all about it!