Peanut Butter and Chocolate Banana Bread
Don't want to make the usual banana bread anymore? Well now there's this recipe that you can use to upgrade your lockdown baking! Lots and lots of peanut butter harmoniously paired with chocolate chunks all mixed into a humble banana bread. What could be better?
Warning! This banana bread is so delicious, it won't even last a day. It's also even better warmed up with some chocolate spread. Now, I'm not trying to promote any unhealthy practices but everyone needs a treat every now and then, especially over this festive season. But it's not all unhealthy, check out the healthy facts to reduce your guilt.
Chocolate: for the chocolate in this recipe, you can use chips if you prefer. You can also use milk chocolate, it will just no longer be suitable for vegans. I use dark chocolate that I cut into chunks because I prefer finding bigger bits of chocolate every now and then but the decision is really up to you.
Bananas: using brown bananas are best for this recipe but you can use yellow ones, you just won't have a strong banana flavour.
Storage: If for some reason you cannot eat the loaf fast enough, you can freeze it for a month. Just wrap it tightly in cling film and you're good to go. To defrost it, just place it in the fridge overnight.
Suitable For Vegans: this is a really great vegan recipe. For those of you who aren't vegan, I would tell you that you really cant tell the difference. I'm not vegan myself but when I made this recipe it was just a bonus that it so happened to be vegan.
Healthy fact: bananas are a great source of potassium. They also contain a whole bunch of vitamins that help maintain a healthy immune system, aid with metabolism and with cognitive function. Bananas definitely pack a whole lot of goodness.
Healthy Fact: Dark chocolate is full of antioxidants which can help prevent heart problems, boost your mood and help with weight loss. Sadly, milk and white chocolate do not count here as they don't have a lot of cocoa solids left in them.
Healthy Fact: maple syrup contains a relatively high level of zinc and manganese each, of which, are imperative for a healthy body. Zinc helps fight illness by improving immune function and manganese helps maintain brain and nerve function. Manganese can also help with calcium absorption. Maple syrup can also reduce inflammation and for all these reasons, maple syrup can be a great replacement for sugar or sweeteners.
Healthy Fact: peanut butter is (most of the time) a minimally processed food. It is just a bunch of peanuts that have been pureed, with or without some peanut chunks added to it. Some brands add sugars, oils or fats to their peanut butter so try to avoid these if you want the health benefits. Pure peanut butter is a great source of energy, having a good balance of fat, carbohydrates and proteins.
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Banana Loaf
Prep time
10-15 minutes
Cook time
55-60 minutes
Serves
8-10
What you need
3 Bananas
150g Peanut butter
6 tbsp Maple syrup
6 tbsp Vegetable oil
90ml Dairy free milk
1 tbsp Vanilla extract
250g Plain flour
80g Light brown sugar
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp Salt
100g Dark chocolate, chopped
Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160C fan. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.
Mash 2 bananas with 100g of the peanut butter, maple syrup oil, milk and vanilla extract.
Add all the dry ingredients and fold until fully combined.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and then dot the rest of the butter on top. Roughly swirl the peanut butter into the batter with a knife and then smooth the top of the mixture with a spatula. Cut a banana in half and place over the top of the batter.
Bake the loaf for 55-60 minutes until a skewer comes out clean, with just a few moist crumbs, when it is poked in the middle. Check the loaf at around 30 minutes and if the top is golden brown, place a layer of foil over the top of the loaf to avoid burning.
Remove from the oven and allow to completely cool in the tin.
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