I don’t really do New Years resolutions and definitely don’t buy in to the whole dieting and getting fit in January thing, because quite frankly (for me at least) it is doomed to fail. January is the worst possible month to give up hearty comfort food and force yourself out into the cold to exercise…I simply try to keep up a good level of exercise and healthy eating throughout the year. Having said that, I have been craving a lot of soups and vegetables recently so clearly my body is in need of some healthier food after indulging over Christmas…so I have resolved to try and bake things over the next few weeks that contain healthy ingredients and are a bit lower in fat and sugar.
I was really craving some banana bread, but it being winter, the bananas I bought hoping they would blacken in a few days as they do in summer remained stubbornly yellow and I was getting impatient…I had a look online for tips as to how to get them to ripen faster and came across several people recommending that you bake them in a low oven for half an hour or so until the skins turn black and the insides soften, apparently this renders them perfectly sweet and mushy for banana bread. I was intrigued and had to give it a go, and it worked! You just line a baking tray with parchment paper and bake the bananas at 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2 for about half an hour until they turn black (black bananas are really freaky looking!), then let them cool for about half an hour before using. It makes sense really, if you have ever tried barbecued bananas it is fairly similar. It will only work on yellow bananas though, not green ones.
Although plain banana bread is pretty unbeatable, I decided to have a bit of a play around with flavours and try something different, and what better flavour combination is there than banana, chocolate and peanut butter? I decided to create a marbled banana bread loaf, with one half flavoured with smooth peanut butter and the other with cocoa powder, the result is pretty darn delicious, you can taste all of the separate flavours but they also meld together beautifully, the top of the loaf is crunchy and the centre soft and moist and the smell while it was baking was phenomenal!
I used part plain white flour and part wholemeal spelt flour to make it a little healthier and although this loaf can’t really be regarded as a health food as it still contains sugar and butter, it does contain good-for-you ingredients in the form of bananas, peanut butter and spelt flour and is certainly a healthier choice than many other cakes. I toyed with the idea of adding chocolate chips and cinnamon but decided in the end to keep things simple, I do however believe that a handful of chocolate chips added to the chocolate batter, and half a teaspoon of cinnamon to the peanut, would taste amazing.
(Please note: although I have provided a conversion from grams to US cup measurements I cannot guarantee the accuracy as I do not bake using cups, I thoroughly recommend investing in a digital metric scale, it is far more accurate.)
Ingredients:
- 125g (1/2 cup + 1tsp) butter
- 150g (3/4 cup + 2tbsp) light brown soft sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 large overripe bananas, mashed (about 350g (12 + 1/3 oz) peeled weight)
- 175g (1 + 1/2 cups) plain flour
- 100g (3/4 cup + 1tbsp) wholemeal spelt/plain wholemeal flour
- 2tsp baking powder
- 100g (3.5 oz/5 slightly heaped tbsp) smooth peanut butter, divided
- 2tbsp cocoa powder
- 4tbsp milk
Line a 2lb (approx 4.5×8 inches) loaf tin with greaseproof paper, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
Gently melt the butter in a small pan and set aside to cool slightly. Whisk the eggs and sugar together then mix in the mashed bananas and 60g (3tbsp) of the peanut butter.
Whisk together the flours and baking powder in a separate bowl then stir into the wet ingredients along with the melted butter.
Transfer half of the batter into a separate bowl. Sift the cocoa powder into one half and mix in along with 2tbsp of the milk. Mix the remaining 40g (2tbsp) of peanut butter and 2tbsp milk into the other half.
Dollop alternating blobs of batter into the lined loaf tin until you have used all of the mixture, drag a skewer or knife blade through the batter a few times to marble it then bake in the centre of the preheated oven for an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half until a skewer inserted to the centre of the loaf comes out clean. Cover with foil if the loaf starts to brown too quickly.
Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack before slicing.
I am sharing this with Totally Talented Tuesdays, Create Link Inspire, Foodie Friends Friday, Foodie Fridays and Fiesta Friday
Hmmm, chocolate, peanut butter and banana in one bread – amazing, Hanna!! This looks definitely good. I need a cup of coffee right now. 😀
Thanks Jhuls 🙂
The gym is crazy right now. All of the people with resolutions are there. They will be gone by the middle of February though so the rest of us that go all the time will have the place back. This bread look amazing! I throw my bananas in the freezer when they get to ripe to eat and can enjoy them in bakery any time. Happy FF!
Freezing bananas is a brilliant idea, but I never seem to remember to do it when I’ve got overripe ones! I just end up drinking loads of banana milkshakes and eating banana pancakes to use them up…
That works too 🙂
I can’t think of a better way to use up my languishing bananas. I was thinking of making some kind of banana bread, and this is a perfect way to do it. Thanks.
Thanks Hilda, banana bread is one of my favourite comfort foods 🙂
Baking in the oven is such a brilliant tup – thanks! And that finished bread is just beautiful. Pinned to try. #recipeoftheweek
Thank you 🙂
The first picture of this bread with the spoonful of PB really did me in here! Gorgeous bread and thank you so much for bringing to the party this week. We have a lot of bananas in our house and yet I never make banana bread and I’m not sure why. I will now though!
Thank you!
wonderful combo-never though about this combo before… this looks fantastic.. 🙂
I so agree with you about the January dieting thing – I’d be much better in the summer when it is too hot to eat and you want to spend time outside exercising (i.e. walking along a beach) 😉
The loaf looks fabulous! You are so good at marbling cakes, I still have your zebra cake on my to-do-list …
Thanks Ginger 🙂 fortunately I have a dog so I have a reason to make myself get out and get some exercise, otherwise I would be tempted to spend the whole of January (and February) curled up on the sofa under a blanket (with snacks…)…
I do that! And March! Fortunately I am very shortsighted so I just take care not to look at myself in the mirror when wearing glasses 😉
Haha! Unfortunately I have perfect eyesight… :p
All of my favorites in a bread! Yummy! <3
Thank you 🙂
You had me at chocolate and then you had me over the top at peanut butter! I never used to be a fan of peanut butter and then one day I tries it with chocolate and now I’m finally on the PB band wagon! Happy FF and thanks for sharing!
Thank you! I love peanut butter, but only when it is paired with something sweet…
I don’t usually click on recipes for desserts or breads, but this one called to me. I love it when I learn something new (baking unripe bananas) and something surprising. This looks wonderful, I think my family will love this one (especially with chocolate chips).
Happy New Year.
Thank you and happy New Year! 🙂
The chocolate marbling on this loaf looks so pretty and must taste wonderful! As a child, I used to love peanut butter and banana sandwiches. You put those flavors plus chocolate in this loaf! 🙂
Thank you 🙂 Have you ever tried a peanut butter, banana and nutella sandwich…? Heaven!
I am allergic to tree nuts so nutella is out, but there is chocolate peanut butter. I could skip the bread and just spread the chocolate peanut butter right on the banana! 🙂
Oh no! Poor you 🙁 although chocolate peanut butter does sound amazing…I’ve never tried it but I think I might have to…
Oh my goodness, all of my favorites all in one bread! This looks delicious! Thanks for sharing it with us at Foodie Fridays! Sharing!
Thank you!
Freezing bananas is my favorite way to keep them. Then we can just squeeze them out! Chocolate + banana + peanut butter = perfect marriage!
I really need to remember to start freezing them, because they’d be brilliant for smoothies too!
I love banana bread and this recipe sounds just delicious! 🙂
Thank you 🙂 I’ve just eaten the last slice and can confirm that it is delicious!
This sounds amazing and what a brilliant tip to soften bananas when you just *need* to make banana bread. I also freeze any overripe bananas until I need them. They look disgusting when they’re defrosted, but they make excellent banana bread!
It’s a brilliant idea to freeze them, I’m just not organized enough to do it!
Looks delicious. Bananas, chocolate and peanut butter–what a great combination! #tastytuesdays
Thank you!
Oh yum! What a fab flavour combo, looks delish.
Thank you 🙂
That looks incredible, I’d leave out the peanuts for myself as they hate me but wow, stunning styling and photography too! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
Thank you! I reckon it would work just as well with almond butter instead 🙂
Thank you!
Wow this looks and sounds simply heavenly!!! x #cookblogshare
Thank you 🙂
Definitely bookmarking this one! Banana and chocolate make the best combination and this recipe looks stunning xxx
Thank you!
I love banana bread (in fact made it into cakes yesterday) and this looks so lovely and special. Peanut butter will be on my list next time I make some! #CookBlogShare
Thanks Lucy, I bet your cakes were amazing! 🙂
I am updating my review. I made this again with really ripe bananas, and it came out perfect. I think that is the key. The outside does get pretty brown, but the inside is really moist and sweet. OLD Review from Nov. 2007 – 3 stars – One daughter gave it thumbs up. The other daughter gave it thumbs down. It didn’t do me. I’m looking for more sweetness.
Yes in order to keep the sugar content not overly high you do need to use very ripe bananas – the blacker the better. And you do need to cover the top with tin foil partway through baking to stop it from getting too dark.
I don’t know if I dare ever make this again, I loved it and didn’t want to share with ANYONE!! I did use all the frosting because we loved the taste of it, my kids loved the cake part not frosted because it was like banana bread. So moist and delicious!! I did bake it for 1 hr 20 minutes.
Wow – my new and ONLY banana bread recipe from here on out – it was DELICIOUS!! I topped mine with crumb topping before baking – yum! It makes the whole house smell good and it tastes incredible – thanks Shelley!