Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Updated March 26, 2019
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread-moist chocolate banana bread with a peanut butter swirl and peanut butter chips on top! This quick and easy banana bread recipe is a family favorite!
Oops, I did it again! I made more chocolate banana bread. I am obsessed with my chocolate banana bread recipe, it is seriously the BEST! I buy extra bananas at the store just so I can make banana bread. I watch the bananas, waiting for them to turn brown. I think they actually take longer to turn brown if you watch them, kind of like watching a pot of water to boil. They seem to take forever to turn brown when you really want to make banana bread.
This time, I used my brown bananas to make chocolate banana bread, but I mixed things up. I added peanut butter to the mix and made Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread. Yep, this chocolate banana bread recipe has a peanut butter swirl inside and peanut butter chips on top! It is a chocolate peanut butter lover’s DREAM banana bread!
I was super excited to invite peanut butter to the chocolate banana bread party because chocolate and peanut butter are a match made in heaven. I knew the peanut butter addition would be good, but I didn’t know it would be eat the whole loaf good. You think I am joking, but I really went to town on this loaf of banana bread. The boys helped me a little, but I kept eating slice after slice until it was gone.
The chocolate banana bread alone is absolute perfection, but when you add in a swirl of creamy peanut butter and peanut butter chips on top, talk about trouble. I couldn’t stop myself!
Now, this is technically banana bread, but I will warn you, it tastes more like chocolate cake. I promise, that is a VERY good thing. And since it is bread, you can eat it for breakfast and not feel guilty. It has peanut butter so you will get a nice boost of protein. Oh, and the bananas, so there is fruit too, totally acceptable breakfast food:)
I like to go the extra mile and slather peanut butter on my slice. Mmmmm, so good!
So, I’ve made Chocolate Banana Bread, Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread, and now Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread. I think I need an intervention. The next time I bake a loaf of chocolate banana bread, please come help me eat it! And which recipe is my favorite? I know you are going to ask…whatever banana bread I am eating at the time. They are ALL so so good!
I am going to watch my bananas now. I need them to turn brown so I can bake another loaf. And make sure you check out How to Make the Best Banana Bread, if you want a classic recipe! It’s a winner!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 3-4 brown bananas 1 ½ cups mashed
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1/4 cup canola vegetable, grapeseed, or coconut oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork. Add the melted butter and oil and stir until combined. Stir in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, don’t overmix. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
- Pour half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Drop spoonfuls of the peanut butter on top of the batter. Swirl the peanut butter into the chocolate batter with a butter knife. Top with remaining chocolate batter. Sprinkle the peanut butter chips over the top of the bread. Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean, you might have some melted chocolate chips or peanut butter on the toothpick and that is fine. You just don’t want a lot of gooey batter.
- Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread and carefully remove from the pan. Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack until slightly warm. Cut into slices and serve.
- Note-the bread will keep on the counter, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 4 days. This bread also freezes well. To freeze, cool the bread completely and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost before slicing.
Have you tried this recipe?
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The following has probably been addressed but I did not see it. Is the butter unsalted or salted? It is my understanding the difference is negligible but it is also my understanding that when baking, unsalted butter is recommended. I would appreciate your suggestion(s). You, no doubt have all the talent—I assure you, I do not. Thank you for your response.
I used salted plus a bit more than the teaspoon the recipe called for and mine’s definitely not too salty. I used kosher rather than sea salt, and those bigger flakes usually mean you notice it even more but this is so sweet it can handle it. Salted butter isn’t standardized and even the same brand can vary widely: that’s why baking usually calls four unsalted, so you can regulate it.
Hi Greer, I was always taught if a recipe calls for salt, it is recommended to use unsalted butter. This way you can control the amount of salt in a dish & also don’t run the risk of over salting the dish. I know bakers who use salted butter (because they like the taste better) and will still add the salt the recipe calls for. I also know bakers who will use salted butter and then omit the salt the recipe calls for.
So do answer your question, I think it’s a personal choice. I have mistakenly grabbed salted butter and used it (adding the salt) and found stuff to be too salty for my taste. Hope this helps.
Indeed, unsalted is normally used for baking. But I use salted all the time. I think it boosts the flavor. The only time its necessary to use unsalted butter is if you’re making yeasted bread/dough cause salt kills yeast activity. Otherwise it’s pretty harmless. You can always add less salt to the recipe since you have some in your butter. Hope that helps!
This is cake, not banana bread. It’s good cake, but one can replace the fat with bananas in almost all cakes and get good results; this has both the bananas and the fat and SO MUCH SUGAR. I cut the sugar in half, used half whole wheat/half white flour, and it’s delicious. This site’s usually spot on with cooking times/temps so I set timer for 60m and should’ve taken it out at least 5 minutes earlier, maybe 10. I used salted butter and added a bit more than the teaspoon called for, kosher not sea salt because bigger flakes means you notice it more. I also used straight up peanut butter – from the machines that butter the peanuts while you watch – rather than packaged that has added sugar. I’d salted it but that might explain the need for more salt in my loaf (cake).
Your baking time was off cause you altered the recipe. If you’re gonna alter ingredients you have to check your oven at different intervals than the posted time.
Made this yesterday – delicious for sure! Only problem I had was that the peanut butter did not swirl after being dropped onto batter – just rolled around in big lumps. Suspect it was just that the peanut butter was too cold – should be fixable with a quick hit in the microwave next time – and there will definitely be a next time. Lumps instead of a swirl is only an aesthetic concern anyway – great recipe!
Glad you loved it.
This is amazing. Definitely the best banana bread I ever made or had. I brought it to a work meeting and everyone loved it, and I really think it contributed to making it a success, haha!
I only had 2 bananas and just added an additional egg to make up for it, and that worked very well. Still very moist, but obviously a bit less banan-y than with three or more, I suppose. But still really, really delicious. I hope I can make it again soon!
Great recipe. The cake was light and fluffy and not too sweet. My family loved it. I left out the peanut butter swirl because I was lazy.
Oh my goodness, Maria! I was just about to close this tab after making 2 batches of the chocolate banana bread for the nth time since I found your recipe 3 years ago. Then when I saw “Chocolate peanut butter banana bread”, I felt a jolt of excitement! I need more bananas!!!
I live in the Philippines where bananas are not just extra good, they’re the cheapest!
Anyway, I HAVE to make this recipe. I’ll give you a feedback until then.
Merry Christmas!
Both are wonderful!! Happy baking!
Love this, having made it several times! But, it always is so crumbly. Not sure why? Any ideas?
Over mixing? Not baking long enough? Not cooling before cutting?
I have made this chocolate and peanut butter banana bread so many times and it is always devoured!
This is my one staple in life!
Haha.
Anyway, I have been meaning to thank you for such am amazing recipe!
<3
You are very welcome!