October 3, 2020
My peanut butter and chocolate chip banana loaf came about while I was playing around with creating a vegan version of banana bread. Around the same time, one of my friends had asked me to make a dessert for her husband’s birthday featuring peanut butter and chocolate chip and so I thought why not combine the two into a single dessert. With the end goal in mind, I got to work in the kitchen creating what will become my peanut butter and chocolate chip banana loaf. I started by analyzing all of the characteristics of some of the best banana bread I’ve ever had. The best banana bread always had chunks of bananas throughout the bread, was just slightly sweet, tender to the bite, and was always super moist. The banana loaf I set out to create in the kitchen had to have all of these qualities. I played around with different ratios of ingredients spread out over a few weeks until I got the ratios just right. It took a while to get the recipe just right because there was no way Kevin would eat banana bread, loaf, or whatever I called it consecutively for a few weeks. Once I found the right ratio of ingredients, I was ready to test out the banana loaf on friends. When it came to testing out the banana loaf, I couldn’t just rely on Kevin to give me the thumbs up. Kevin isn’t the hugest fan of banana bread and definitely frowns whenever he hears the word vegan mentioned in any recipe I create. The first couple of times I made my peanut butter and chocolate chip banana loaf, Kevin didn’t actually hate it – which is always a great sign. By the third time, Kevin actually thought the banana loaf was very good for those who enjoy banana bread. With Kevin’s semi-approval, I turned to our friends to test out the recipe. Each friend had its own idea of what the ideal banana bread consisted of. Some preferred banana bread loaded with nuts for some crunch. Others enjoyed just one texture throughout. None actually had a vegan version of banana bread until they tried my peanut butter and chocolate chip banana loaf. My peanut butter and chocolate chip banana loaf was the perfect, slightly sweet, chocolate dessert to serve at the end of a meal. Every bite was filled with a burst of chocolatey goodness. The banana loaf was just tender to the bite, had chunks of banana throughout, had just the right amount of sweetness, and was super moist. It met all of my criteria for the perfect banana bread. Better yet, all of the ingredients needed to make my peanut butter and chocolate chip banana loaf were already ingredients I had on hand in my pantry. When I served up the banana loaf to friends, they were amazed by how delightful the loaf turned out. One slice per person was just not enough. Some even went back for seconds and thirds.
For the peanut butter chocolate chip banana loaf:
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 1 teaspoon baking soda
· ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ cup vegetable oil
· ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
· 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter, plus more for serving
· 3 ripe bananas, roughly mashed
· ½ cup dairy-free chocolate chips
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a loaf pan with a sheet of parchment paper. Set aside.
2) In a bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and kosher salt. Set aside.
3) In another bowl, mix the vegetable oil and light brown sugar until combined. Stir in the creamy peanut butter. Toss in the roughly mashed bananas. Keep stirring until the ingredients are incorporated. Leave some banana chunks visible.
4) Gradually fold in the dry ingredients. Stir to incorporate all ingredients until a thick batter forms. Sprinkle in the chocolate chips. Stir gently to incorporate the chocolate chips into the batter. Scoop the thick batter into the parchment lined loaf pan. Use an offset spatula to spread the batter evenly into the loaf pan.
5) When the oven is done heating, transfer the loaf pan into the center rack. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Serve with more peanut butter, if desired.
I served up my chocolate peanut butter banana loaf alongside my ultimate summer salad with gorgonzola yogurt herb dressing and some minty lemon tea.
Takeaways: The banana loaf tastes best when served immediately from the warm oven. I like to serve slices of my banana loaf with a side of peanut butter. The combination of melted peanut butter slathered on a warm slice of the banana loaf was just perfect. For my next attempt, I may fold in some lightly toasted walnuts to add an element of crunch to the banana loaf. Alternatively, I may even try to swap in crunchy peanut butter in place of the creamy peanut butter.