I love sweet breads. Cinnamon, Amish Friendship, Zucchini, and even Banana Bread. That last one makes me laugh a little at myself, because I don't care for bananas much, or banana flavored anything at all.
But, I do try to make sweet breads as often as I can. They aren't too hard, you can easily make several loaves at once, and, wrapped in a little plastic wrap and foil, they freeze great!
So, in an effort for even more variety, I decided to sweeten the deal even more!
I grabbed this tried and true recipe http://www.simplyrecipes.com/m/recipes/banana_bread/ and added my own twist.
You will need:
3 or 4 ripe bananas (I always use 4)
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
Mix all the ingredients together. Sometimes I really blend up the bananas. Sometimes I hand mash them, then hand mix the rest to leave big banana chunks. I find that the bread with the banana chunks tends to be a dryer bread, but it has nice little banana surprises (for the banana lovers) throughout.
Spray a bread loaf pan with non-stick spray. I prefer the butter flavored spray for some added flavor to the crust.
Pour your batter in till the loaf is 1/2-3/4 full. This batter rises quite a bit as it bakes, so make sure you have enough space above the pan. Too close to the top of the oven or another baking rack and you're in trouble!
Bake for an hour at 350 degrees.
When the top of the loaf has deep cracks in it, it should be done, but feel free to double check by sticking a knife in the center.
I tip it out of the baking pan and put it on a cooling rack or cutting board right away to prevent over baking.... Plus, then I can taste test it!
I love this with cream cheese, peanut butter or butter spread on it, but it's great plain too!!!
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