Featured Recipe

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

I've had this recipe in my file for quite some time but only tried it for the first time yesterday. You should try it too because it is delicious. The recipe comes from Cooking Light Magazine and the link can be found here. I made a few changes to the recipe and it turned out really well (see the recipe below - the notes in blue are my changes). This bread is not super sweet, but the glaze is and makes it more like a cake than a loaf. It's really nice served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream 

Ingredients

• Bread:
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
• 1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt (I used vanilla yogurt)
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter 
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 6 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed (I don't like the texture of flax seed in things so I added an extra loose handful of flour)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice (This is a very strong spice - I used it but I would leave it out next time as I think it is a wee bit overpowering)
• 2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts (I omitted these and added 2 handfuls of chocolate chips instead) 
• Cooking spray
• Glaze:
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon 1% low-fat milk (I substituted for chocolate milk)
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter 
• 1/4 tsp cocoa powder

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare bread, combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add granulated and brown sugars; beat until blended.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; cool.
4. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk, and 1 tablespoon peanut butter in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over bread.

Maureen Callahan, Cooking Light
OCTOBER 2010