Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Crunchy Granola 巧克力花生醬香蕉蛋糕

My husband and I both love banana bread, but when it comes to peanut butter, we're not quite on the same page. As a typical American, he naturally loves anything that has to do with peanut butter - from peanut butter and jelly, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, he loves them all! As for me, peanut butter wasn't something I grew up with in Taiwan. In my childhood memory, peanut butter wasn't as popular at the time and the Western food was just starting to come into the market. I don't recall that we had much peanut butter at our house. Therefore, I guess I never quite developed a palate for it, but occasionally there are some peanut butter flavoured things that I like. For example, any peanut butter cereal or cinnamon flavoured peanut butter, and this bread here is also one of those rare occasions where peanut butter becomes my good friend.

There's something special about the combination of banana, peanut, and chocolate - their flavours just go so well together, so I thought they would make a great banana bread as well! In this recipe, I used both cocoa powder and chocolate chips, and the result is a rich, chocolaty flavour (but not sweet) that any chocolate-lover would die for! I put the peanut butter both in the batter and on the top, along with some of my favourite peanut butter granola from Nature's Path (click here for my Nature's Path Giveaway to win their granola!) to add some crunchy texture. Oh, and did I mention that there's no butter? If you're able to resist the delicious smell of this bread, letting it sit for a day is actually more ideal. It'll taste even more peanut buttery and banana-y!

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Crunchy Granola (makes 1 loaf)

4        large ripe bananas, slightly mashed *Save 1/2 banana for the topping.

1/2 C  coconut sugar

A: 2 T      yogurt
    1/3 C   peanut butter
    1 t       vanilla extract
    1 large egg, beaten
    1/4 t    sea salt

B: 1/2 C    all-purpose flour
    1/2 C    whole wheat pastry flour
    1/2 C    cocoa powder
    1 t        baking soda
    1/4 t     baking powder

3/4 C   dark chocolate chips (the darker the better!)
 
3-4 T   peanut butter

C: 2    T     dark chocolate chips
    1/4 C     Nature's Path Love Crunch Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butter 

                  Granola *If it's not available at where you're, you can replace it with a different 

                      type of granola.

*T = tbsp, t = tsp, C = cup

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 9" x 5" (23 x 13 cm) bread pan with a piece of parchment paper.

2. Combine 3 1/2 bananas and brown sugar in a large bowl. Press the two together until the banana is completely mashed and the sugar is dissolved.

3. Add ingredients A to the banana mixture and use a whisk to beat everything together.

4. Sift ingredients B into the large bowl. Mix with a spatula until just about to combine. Then add the chocolate chips and stir a few more times to mix well. Don't over mix it.

5. Pour the batter into a parchment paper-lined bread pan, then spoon the peanut butter on top of the batter and use a toothpick or knife to make a swirl.

6. Slice the leftover 1/2 banana piece. Lay the banana pieces on top of the bread and sprinkle ingredients C.

7. Bake 50-60 minutes until a tooth pick comes out clean. Let it cool, then store it in the fridge or store it at a cool room temperature for 3 days. 

*Banana bread tastes the best after sitting one day.

Variations:

 
1. Omit the leftover 1/2 banana and ingredients C; it'll look just like a chocolate peanut butter swirled banana bread.

2. Instead of using the bread pan, you can use a muffin pan, but since it's a lot smaller, reduce the cooking time to 20-30 minutes.

3. For the flour, instead of 1/2 C all-purpose + 1/2 whole wheat flour, use 1/2 C oat flour + 1/4 C spelt flour + 1/4 almond flour

4. Instead of 1/2 C coconut sugar, use 1/3 C honey
 

For more banana bread recipe, see Kahlua-Chocolate Banana Bread

 
                                                                                              - Yvonne 

老公與我都愛吃香蕉蛋糕，這是無疑的，但是對花生醬，我們卻有很不同的喜好。老公就像一般的美國人，從小長大就習慣吃ㄧ些花生醬食品，例如花生醬果醬三明治 (peanut butter sandwich)，Reese's Peanut Butter Cups與花生醬餅乾等其他零食，反正只要有花生醬味道的食物他都愛。而我就不同了，小時候在台灣，那時花生醬還不是那麼的普遍，西方的食品才慢慢的引進，大概是因為沒有吃花生醬的習慣，也不會想吃或愛吃。不過有特定幾樣花生醬食品我特別喜歡 - 花生醬口味的烤燕麥與肉桂口味花生醬，而這個巧克力香蕉花生醬蛋糕也不例外！

 
不知爲什麼，巧克力、香蕉與花生醬這三個組合特別的誘人，也非常的搭，所以我想說以這幾個口味來搭配做香蕉蛋糕應該很適合。我在這食譜裡面加了可可粉與巧克力，所以巧克力味道濃厚(但不甜)。另外，我除了在蛋糕裡面加了些花生醬，在蛋糕的上面也有放ㄧ些，並加上我個人非常喜愛的Nature'sPath巧克力花生醬烤燕麥，讓蛋糕有香香脆脆的口感。這個香蕉蛋糕比一般的香蕉蛋糕熱量要少，我完全沒加奶油，可以安心食用。如果您能夠抵擋的了蛋糕剛出爐的香味，其實讓它放至隔天，會更好吃也更有香濃的香蕉與花生味喔~

巧克力花生醬香蕉蛋糕


熟的香蕉 4 大條 *將半條香蕉留起備用

紅糖或椰子糖 1/2 杯

A: 優格      2 大匙
    花生醬   1/3 杯
    香草精   1 小匙
    蛋         1 顆…打散
    海鹽      1/4 小匙

B: 低筋麵粉 3/4 杯
    全麥麵粉 1/4 杯
    可可粉    1/2 杯
    小蘇打粉 1 小匙
    泡打粉    1/4 小匙

    黑巧克力豆  3/4 杯

花生醬       3-4 大匙

C: 黑巧克力豆  2-3大匙
    烤燕麥片(granola) 約 1/4 杯 *我使用的是 Nature's Path的 Love Crunch 巧克力

     花生醬烤燕麥，但也可以使用其他的烤燕麥

1. 將烤箱預熱至 180 C/350 F，並將烤紙放入(23 x 13 cm)烤蛋糕模型中

2. 在ㄧ個大的鋼盆中，將3 1/2條香蕉稍微壓成小塊，再與紅糖混合繼續壓成泥。

3. 將A料加入與香蕉泥打均勻。

4. 將B料過篩入盆中以橡皮刮刀稍微攪拌ㄧ下，加入巧克力豆再繼續拌勻。

5. 將拌好的麵糊倒入模型中，再以ㄧ個湯匙將花生醬放在麵糊上，用ㄧ支牙籤或小刀在麵糊表面認意的繞圈圈。

6. 將剩下的香蕉切長薄片，擺在麵糊上，然後在麵糊上撒上C料。

7. 放入烤箱烤50-60分鐘至熟。冷卻後放置冰箱保存或在室溫保存3天。*若您有耐心等待的話，放置ㄧ天後再食用是會更有香濃香蕉與花生醬味道。


如何做變化：
1. 可以不在麵糊的上面放剩下的半根香蕉和C料，烤好之後就變成了巧克力花生醬漩渦香蕉蛋糕。

2. 使用馬芬蛋糕模型，使其變成馬芬蛋糕，可以當早餐食用。由於型狀小很多，烤的時間也要調爲20-40分鐘。

3. 使用1/3 杯蜂蜜來代替椰子糖。

4. 將麵粉的部分改為1/2 杯燕麥粉 + 1/2 杯斯卑爾托小麥 (spelt flour)。



                                                                                               - Yvonne

© recipe and photos by My Chouchoux

In the above two photos, I altered the original recipe by omitting the granola, and using unrefined flour and honey (see variations above).
這個照片裡的香蕉蛋糕並沒有放烤燕麥片、糖與加工麵粉 (請參考如何做變化)。