Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

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!

 

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

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper or grease it generously with oil.
2. 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.
3. 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.

4. Mash bananas in a medium sized bowl and add to the wet ingredients, mixing well.
5. In a large bowl mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

6. 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.

7. With a silicone or rubber spatula, stir in peanut butter chips to the batter.

8. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan.

For The Crumb Topping (optional)

1. 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

1. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of center clean.
2. 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.

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.