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You’re going to love this peanut butter banana bread! It’s an easy quick bread, which is one of my specialties. I’ve been making breads and muffins for years, and have developed lots of my own tried-and-true tips and tricks during that time.

peanut butter banana bread slices on wood cutting board
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Some common issues people have when making peanut butter banana bread are that it can come out too dry, too dense, or lack peanut butter flavor. When you follow my recipe, you don’t have to worry about any of that, even if you’ve never made bread before.

Throughout my years of baking bread, I’ve encountered all of those issues and found ways to master them through ingredient ratios and methods. Now I’m sharing all of that with you in one easy-to-follow recipe for delicious peanut butter banana bread. 

Quick and easy Banana Peanut Butter Bread!

Quick breads and muffins are some of my favorite baked goods because you can eat them any time of the day. Morning. Afternoon. Snack. Dessert. Yum.

This is an easy banana bread recipe that incorporates creamy peanut butter. The only thing it’s missing are chocolate chips!

hands holding peanut butter banana bread in metal loaf pan

Banana Peanut Butter Bread Recipe Ingredients

  • bananas: adds banana flavor and acts as a binder
  • creamy peanut butter: adds that peanut butter flavor
  • vegetable oil: adds fat and moisture 
  • brown sugar: adds sweetness, flavor, and moisture
  • vanilla extract: adds flavor
  • eggs: binds the batter together by providing structure
  • all purpose flour: flour is necessary to build structure
  • baking soda: helps to leaven and lift the batter
  • cinnamon: adds warmth 
  • salt: just a pinch to balance the sweetness and enhances the other flavors
slices of peanut butter banana bread on wood background

How to Make Peanut Butter Banana Bread

  1. In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas. 
  2. Add the creamy peanut butter, vegetable oil, brown sugar and vanilla extract, blend with an electric mixer on low. 
  3. Add the eggs, beat gently just until the egg yolks break.
  4. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the banana mixture, just until combined.
  5. Spray a loaf pan (either 9×5 or 8.5×4.5) with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the pan.
  6. Bake for 45 minutes, place aluminum foil over the bread and bake for 20-25 additional minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

How to Quickly Ripen Bananas in the Oven

Spotty, over ripe bananas make the best peanut butter banana bread! If your bananas aren’t over ripe, you can fix that! Place the bananas on a foil lined baking sheet in a 300ºF oven for 30-40 minutes, until the peels become black and shiny.

peanut butter banana bread sliced on wood background

Easy Peanut Butter Banana Bread Dietary Variations

I’ve made this bread with both regular and gluten free flour with awesome results on multiple occasions. I recommend King Arthur’s Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour. Use it as a one for one substitute for regular flour.

How to serve Banana Bread with Peanut Butter

Serve peanut butter banana bread warm or at room temperature, either plain or with a smear of additional peanut butter or butter on top. It pairs well with a glass of milk, a cup of coffee, or tea. For a decadent touch, add a drizzle of honey or chocolate sauce.

Storing Banana Peanut Butter Bread

Store the bread in an airtight container on the counter. To keep the bread extra moist, wrap in plastic wrap then place inside the container. 

How to freeze Banana Peanut Butter Bread

To freeze the whole loaf: allow it to cool completely, then wrap well in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil. Place inside a ziplock bag. To thaw, place the wrapped bread in the fridge overnight.

To freeze individual slices: allow the loaf to cool completely and slice. Wrap each slice in plastic wrap then in aluminum and place inside a ziplock bag. To thaw, place a slice in the fridge overnight. Or unwrap and microwave for 30 second intervals.

peanut butter banana bread on white plate with striped blue napkin

Banana Peanut Butter Bread Recipe Tips

• Do not over mix the batter

I have been guilty of this myself and I am learning to be okay with lumps in my batter. For quick bread, do not use your electric mixer to beat in the dry ingredients, using a spatula and mixing by hand will give you more control. “Mix just until incorporated” means mixing the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until you can just no longer see any flour streaks. Yes you should still scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl, but do that as you’re mixing in the flour.

• Be careful to not over bake the bread 

Sometimes the bread can trick you, it can look done on the outside but still be doughy in the middle. That’s when tenting the bread with aluminum foil comes in handy. It protects the top from becoming too brown, overcooked or crusty. 

• Loaf pan size matters

There’s two popular loaf pan sizes – 9×5 and 8.5×4.5. Even though the numbers are similar, the pans actually differ in size by 15%. The 8.5×4.5 pan will yield a tall, more domed bread and will take 5-10 minutes longer when baking. The total suggested bake time for a 8.5×4.5 inch pan is 65-70 minutes and 9×5 inch pan is 60-65 minutes.

peanut butter banana bread slices on wood cutting board

If you have tons of ripe or frozen bananas to use up, make this banana bars recipe! It’s fluffy like a moist banana cake and topped with cream cheese frosting!

More Baked Goods

4.16 from 44 ratings

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Banana Peanut Butter Bread

By: Beth
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Peanut butter banana bread is an easy quick bread that’s made with 10 common ingredients! It only takes 10 minutes to prep, plus you can add chocolate chips.

Ingredients

  • 4 spotty, over ripe bananas, mashed, about 1 & 1/3 – 1 & 1/2 cup mashed
  • ½ cup creamy peanut butter
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp salt

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350º F.
  • In a mixing bowl mash 4 bananas – this should equal 1 & 1/3 cup to 1 & 1/2 cup mashed banana.
  • Add the creamy peanut butter, vegetable oil, brown sugar and vanilla extract, blend with an electric mixer on low. 
  • Add the eggs, beat gently just until the egg yolks break.
  • In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. By hand, gently fold the dry ingredients into the banana mixture using a spatula, just until combined.
  • Spray a loaf pan (either 9×5 or 8.5×4.5) with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the pan.
  • Place in the center of the oven and bake for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, place aluminum foil over the bread and bake for 20-25 additional minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total suggested bake time for a 8.5×4.5 inch pan is 65-70 minutes and 9×5 inch pan is 60-65 minutes.

Notes

I’ve made this bread with both regular and gluten free flour with awesome results on multiple occasions. I recommend King Arthur’s Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour. Use it as a one for one substitute for regular flour.

Nutrition

Calories: 222kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 253mg | Potassium: 257mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 70IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition Disclosure

All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.

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About Beth

I believe that everyone should have a go-to dessert to bring to parties! With hundreds of recipes, I'll help you find yours!

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4.16 from 44 votes (42 ratings without comment)

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11 Comments

    1. Hi E! Our recipe calls for all purpose flour. I haven’t tried making this recipe with almond flour or whole wheat flour.

    1. How long will these stay fresh on the counter? If really humid should you store in fridge?

  1. My daughter has peanut and tree nut allergies. I think I’m going to try sunbutter instead of pb. Hopefully it can be easily swapped out! 

  2. 5 stars
    Made this today….wonderful. My husband ate almost half the loaf while it was still warm. He loves walnuts in regular banana bread so I added some. Great recipe. Thank you 😊