Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Lately I've been going a little crazy with my recipes.  Ok, not really so much crazy, but rather having fun experimenting with some of my favorite foods. 

A few weeks ago, a neighbor of mine gave birth to an adorable baby boy named Landon, and ever since then I've been wanting to go over and visit with her.  Things have just been very busy for me lately and I knew that when I went, I couldn't go empty handed.

This past Monday happened to be a holiday for me though, so I immediately planned my visit and began thinking about what I could take with me.  I went back and fourth between, cookies, cakes, pasta dishes, etc.  I'm not really sure why, but I was having a difficult time deciding.  I just had so many great sounding recipes pouring through my mind that I wanted to make them all.

That's when I remembered that she was a fan of the chocolate/peanut butter combination, just like me!  Now that I had it narrowed down a little further, I continued to think......cupcakes.....muffins.....bread.  Yes!!!  That was it!!  Bread.  Bread kept popping into my mind.  Not just any bread though, if she was really like me in her tastes, then she'd most likely like banana bread.  I'm not just talking about any plain old banana bread though, banana bread with peanut butter and mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!!!  How could it get any better than that???

The only thing I might do differently the next time I make this, is melt some chocolate to drizzle on top.  YUM!!!!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
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Ingredients:

3 very ripe bananas, mashed
½ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup vegetable oil or unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
½ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
8 oz. bag of mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray, such as PAM.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Whisk together and then set aside.

In a large bowl, add in the bananas, peanut butter, oil (or applesauce), egg, and sugars.

 

Stir together until everything is well blended and smooth.

Pour the flour mixture into the peanut butter banana mixture and stir until just combined.  The batter should appear lumpy.

Gently fold in the mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.......

then pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.  You may need to use a spoon or a spatula to evenly spread the batter around.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Check to make sure the bread is done by inserting a knife or toothpick into the middle.  If the device comes out clean, than you know the bread is done. 

Remove the pan from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes.  After that, gently run a knife along the edge of the pan.  This will help loosen the bread so that it may easily be removed.  Place the bread back on the wire rack until it’s had the chance to complete cool.

Serve with a big glass of milk and enjoy!!!

FYI:  If the top of the bread seems to be browning too quickly then turn the oven temperature down to 325 degrees.

Source: Slightly adapted from Cookies and Cups