peanut butter banana bread

My roommate has this bad habit. She buys bananas and then proceeds to forget about them until they are super duper ripe. Like perfectly "banana bread" ripe. And then she asks me if I want them for my baking. And I sigh in exasperation. Just kidding! I hoard them away for all kinds of banana goodies like the banana fiend that I am.

So I basically really love this bad habit of hers. It works well for me since I demolish bananas before they have three spots on them. I just really love bananas, okay? So now I get to have my banana bread and eat my bananas too. And who said you can't have it all?

This recipe is an old favorite of mine because it combines bananas with my other favorite friend, peanut butter. I even threw in a handful of honey roasted peanuts this time because I'm wild like that. But chocolate chips would be pretty miraculous here, too. This bread is perfect for breakfast with a big cup o' coffee but it's also pretty delicious late at night with a glass of milk. Just saying.

If you don't have whole wheat flour around, you can definitely just swap it out for all-purpose. Or try all whole wheat if you're feeling particularly health nutty. Crunchy peanut butter would also be fine in place of creamy. Just omit the roasted peanuts to avoid peanut overload...unless you're in to that sort of thing. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1/3 cup plain or vanilla fat free yogurt
1/3 cup creamy all-natural peanut butter
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts

Directions:
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon and ground allspice.

In a medium bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, yogurt, peanut butter and melted butter. Whisk in eggs and sugars. Blend mixture until no sugar lumps remain.

Pour the wet mixture into the larger bowl with the dry ingredients. Fold together with a spatula until no more flour bits remain. Fold in the chopped nuts as well. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before running a butter knife along the edges of the pan and inverting the bread onto a wire rack to cool completely.

This bread lasts, well wrapped at room temperature, for up to 4 days. It is also great to store, well wrapped, in the freezer.

Yield: one 9x5 loaf

Source: barely adapted from Joy the Baker