Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread
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Gooey chocolate peanut butter bread is a moist chocolate banana bread with gooey peanut butter chips, then top it all with the most delicious peanut butter crumb. This deliciously indulgent quick bread is soft and fluffy, and every slice will be gone before you know it!
Table of Contents
Why We Love Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread
- So Much Chocolate And Peanut Butter Deliciousness– If you are a Reese’s fan, or just love chocolate and peanut butter you are going to absolutely love this quick bread. Perfect to serve for breakfast like a muffin, but sweet enough to enjoy for a snack or dessert like chocolate cake!
- A Step Up From A Regular Chocolate Bread– This is a gooey chocolatey peanut butter loaf that impresses on the table with that beautiful crumb top!
- Forgiving Recipe– Quick breads are pretty forgiving overall, and usually produce a pretty delicious treat even if everything isn’t quite perfect. That makes this perfect for beginner bakers to try too. This great recipe makes a fancy looking large loaf perfect for anyone who wants to try a step up from regular banana bread! See the tips for customizing this loaf later in the article.
Ingredients For Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread
For The Batter
- butter unsalted, softened
- white sugar
- vanilla extract- use real vanilla extract instead of imitation for the best flavor
- egg beaten
- buttermilk see notes in the recipe card at the bottom for how to swap in milk if you don’t have buttermilk
- bananas – mashed with a fork. Overripe bananas work best for this recipe.
- all purpose flour
- cocoa powder – unsweetened, this is not the same as hot chocolate powder which is sweetened. Look for cocoa powder in the baking section.
- baking soda
- salt- If using salted butter, omit this salt
- peanut butter chips
For The Peanut Butter Crumb (optional)
- creamy peanut butter –– you can use natural peanut butter just make sure it has been well stirred
- white sugar
- flour
- butter melted, salted butter is ok here. If using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt.
How To Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread
For The Batter
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper or grease it generously with oil.
- Cream together softened butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Scrape down the mixing bowl with a spatula, then add one egg and mix well.
- Add vanilla and half of the buttermilk at a time. Mix slowly at first so it doesn’t splash, then up to medium until smooth.
- Mash bananas in a medium sized bowl and add to the wet ingredients, mixing well.
- In a large bowl mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
- Add the bowl of dry ingredients to the wet ingredients half at a time. Mix half of the flour mixture in at a time so it doesn’t fly out of the bowl! Mix first on low then on medium until the batter forms.
Using a whisk to combine flour and other dry ingredients together can help to sift them together quickly without pulling out a sifter. This is especially useful for ingredients like cocoa which tend to have little clumps and need to be broken apart.
- With a silicone or rubber spatula, stir in peanut butter chips to the batter.
- Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan.
For The Crumb Topping (optional)
- Mix together flour, sugar, melted butter and peanut butter in a small, seperate bowl. Mix until a soft dough forms that you can pick up with your hands. Crumble the dough over the top of the bread batter in the loaf pan to bake the crumb topping.
Baking The Peanut Butter Chocolate Bread
- Bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of center clean.
- Let cool in the pan for a least 15 minutes or until the pan is cool to the touch. Remove the loaf and place on a wire cooling rack or a clean kitchen towel. Slice once cool and enjoy!
How Do I Know My Loaf Has Finished Cooking?
One of the trickiest parts of baking a quick bread is knowing when the center is done. It’s really easy to assume the lof has finished cooking when the center is still a little raw.
- Check with a quick shake– If you reach in with oven mitts and shake the pan just a little you can watch the center of the loaf. Look for any liquidness which usually means the center of the loaf will jiggle just a little bit if not fully baked and set. This is a quick test to get your chocolate peanut butter loaf back in the oven faster.
- Check with a toothpick– Place a toothpick into the center of the loaf and see if any liquid batter clings to the toothpick. Use several toothpicks and check different spots that are in the center of the bread. Watch out for the peanut butter chips which will be melted in the loaf. If you hit a peanut butter chip with your toothpick it may look like the loaf hasn’t finished baking when it actually is finished.
I love a chocolate breakfast in any variety, do you? Try these Chocolate Cherry Pancakes or the frozen chocolate covered bananas for a few more ways to enjoy chocolate for breakfast,
Variations Ideas
- Add Chopped Nuts– 3/4 cup of chopped nuts will give this bread a little more crunch. Use chopped peanuts for more peanut flavor. OR try pecans or walnuts which are always delicious in a load bread like this one. Sprinkle a few extra nuts on top too!
- Swap The Peanut Butter Chips– You can use semi sweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips. butter scotch chips or even mini chocolate peanut butter cups! A lot of the peanut butter flavor does come from the chips in this recipe. Know if you switch the chips to something that doesn’t have peanut butter the loaf overall will not have nearly as much peanut butter flavor. (It will still be delicious though!)
- Add A Peanut Butter Swirl– Instead of the crumb topping try adding a peanut butter swirl to your bread! Melt a 1/2 cup of peanut butter until just warm in the microwave. Pour the peanut butter over the batter in the load pan. Then take a butter knife and swirl it through the top of the batter. Don’t over swirl or you may loose the pretty design once baked, just a little swirl works best.
How Do I Store Chocolate Peanut Butter Bread?
Store chocolate peanut butter bread in an airtight container on the counter. Eat this loaf within three to five days for best freshness and taste.
Can I Freeze This Chocolate Quick Bread?
Yes, this chocolate peanut butter bread keeps beautifully in the freezer. I recommend placing slices on a cookie sheet lined with freezer paper. Then wrap each piece in freezer paper and store in a freezer container or freezer zip-top bag.
Frozen chocolate peanut butter loaf will have it’s best freshness if eaten within three months.
You can also wrap the enitre loaf in freezer paper followed by aluminum foil to protect it. Place the entire loaf in a freezer container or freezer zip-top bag.
Defrost the slices or loaf on the counter before eating.
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Bread
Ingredients
For The Batter
- 6 tablespoons butter unsalted, softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup buttermilk see notes for swaps
- 2 medium bananas ripe, mashed with a fork
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup peanut butter chips
For The Peanut Butter Crumb (optional)
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 tablespoon butter melted, salted is fine. If using unsalted add a pinch of salt.
Instructions
For The Batter
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper or grease it generously with oil.
- Cream together softened butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula, then add one egg and mix well.
- Add vanilla and half of the buttermilk at a time. Mix slowly at first so it doesn't splash, then up to medium until smooth. Mash bananas in a medium sized bowl and add to the wet ingredients, mixing well.
- In a large bowl mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients half at a time. Mix first on low then on medium until the batter forms.
- With a silicone spaltula, stir in peanut butter chips to the batter. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan.
For The Crumb Topping (optional)
- Mix together flour, sugar, melted butter and peanut butter in a small bowl. Mix until a soft dough forms that you can pick up with your hands. Crumble the dough over the batter in the loaf pan to bake the crumb topping.
Baking The Peanut Butter Chocolate Bread
- Bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of center clean.
- Let cool in the pan for a least 15 minutes or until the pan is cool to the touch. Remove the loaf and place on a wire cooling rack or a clean kitchen towel. Slice once cool and enjoy!
Notes
- Salted butter can be used in this flexible recipe. Omit the 1/4 teaspoon of salt if using salted butter.
- Buttermilk swaps– Add a teaspoon and a half of either lemon juice or vinegar to a glass measuring cup. Fill the measuring cup with milk up to the 1/2 cup mark. Stir and let this mixture sit for five minutes, then it is ready to be added to the recipe.
- Removing the loaf from the pan- Sometimes the loaf may get stuck in the pan, especially if you greased the pan instead of using parchment paper. Allowing the loaf to cool fully can help to make sure the chocolate peanut butter bread comes out of the pan cleanly. You may also need to run a spatula or a butter knife gently around the edge of the pan to help the bread to release if stuck.
Nutrition
Did You Make This?
I would love to see it! Share your thoughts with me in the comments below!
Easy to make, I made cupcakes instead of a loaf. I hope it works – still in the oven!
Should work, hope it was delicious! Just have to change the cook time because cupcakes/muffins will cook way faster. (I would expect closer to 15-25 minutes!)
Can I use sour cream or yogurt in place of buttermilk?
Sour cream is typically thicker than buttermilk. I’ve heard of people using 75% sour cream and 25% milk mixed together as a buttermilk replacement, but I haven’t tried it with this recipe. It should work, but I’m not sure how the final texture will be affected as I haven’t baked it this way before. Let me know if you try it!
In the ingredients it calls for baking soda but in the instructions it says baking powder. I think this needs to be corrected.
I fixed it, thanks. It’s should be baking soda only.