Peanut Butter Bread
All these years I’ve been baking and I’ve never made or even tried peanut butter bread!
Banana bread is one of my favorites so if I am going to make a quick bread, that’s my go-to. But I also like lemon bread and our healthy green monster bread.
But once I tried peanut butter bread, I realized it’s a contender for the top spot in my heart against banana bread, haha.
I even took it one step further and spread some peanut butter on the bread and added a small handful of mini chocolate chips and devoured that with an iced latte. That is some good afternoon snacking!
One of the most common questions I get is “can I substitute A for B?” While these are good questions, most likely I haven’t tried making the recipe myself substituting A for B, so I can’t guarantee that the recipe will turn out the same.
So if you’re wondering if you can make this recipe with almond butter or cashew butter instead of peanut butter – my answer is I’m not sure how the switch will affect the texture and the baking time.
How about, can I substitute creamy peanut butter for homemade or natural peanut butter? These types of peanut butter tend to separate, which could affect the texture or taste.
But you could give these substitutions a try and let me know!
I love when readers try out their own substitutions and come back and comment on how they worked. We can learn from each other’s successes and failures.
Baking quick breads can be tricky and lead to frustration if you accidentally over bake the item. No one likes dry, crumbly, or burnt bread!
So here are a few words on the most common problems..
-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 a quick bread, do not use your electric mixing 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 scrap the sides and the bottom of the bowl, but do that as you’re mixing in the flour.
-do 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. Check the bread 10-15 minutes before the done time and tent it then if needed!
I did need to tent this peanut butter bread with aluminum foil.
Peanut Butter Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter, not natural
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar with an electric mixer until combined, 1-2 minutes. Beat in the eggs. Add the milk, sour cream and vanilla extract, mix briefly. Gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt, mixing with a spatula to prevent over mixing. Be sure to mix just until combined meaning it’s okay if there are lumps or a few flour streaks.
- Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 48-52 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. See step 3!!!
- Check the bread 10-15 minutes before the timer goes off, if the top of the bread is browning too much, tent the loaf with aluminum foil and then continue baking until the bread is cooked. Or if you are concerned about the top of the load being too dry, tent the bread as well.
- Allow the loaf to cool completely before slicing or removing it from the pan.
Notes
I hear that adding 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to the batter makes this peanut butter bread extra delicious!
I am also guilty of over beating my batters! This peanut butter bread looks fabulous- most of the time you see peanut butter added to something else, but here it’s definitely the star :)
Very true! It’s PBs time to shine!
Amazing post Beth! Oh how I love peanut butter, so this recipe really sounds so good. I would like to try it, but just a bit nervous about baking the bread to be honest. I have never baked bread before. I will give it a go one day =)
Quick breads are so easy, you can do it!
Browsing for good recipe’s and this looks yummy. Going to try this for an extra for Thanksgiving!
Oh this is so good! Enjoy!
What is the texture like?
Can this be made in the breadmachine?
Hi Dawn! I have no experience with the breadmachine so I am not sure, sorry!
Awesome bread! Thank you so much for sharing. Made it and it was gone in a matter of hours! Easy, Thank You!
Made no changes to this recipe, except, next time..DOUBLE IT, its that good. We have toasted and added jelly, and once you eat one slice, you sneek to have another telling noone, and blaming one of your kids!
Wooohooo!!
What is the texture of this bread? I had a dense peanut butter quick bread that reminded me of a less sweet peanut butter cookie that I want to replicate! Thanks
Hi Brooke! It’s like a traditional quick bread texture.
Hi there… is it really a tablespoon of baking powder? I have the bread in the oven now and had added the flour and started to stir, rechecked the recipe and saw it was a TBSP and not a TSP so had to dash back and add the rest. It smells lovely, like peanut butter cookies. And I did add chocolate chips. Fingers crossed!
Yep! It’s one TBSP!
Just made this bread. I doubled the recipe to make 2 loaves. I used crunchy peanut butter and mini chocolate chips in one loaf. And left the other loaf as original recipe. Both were great and everyone liked them. Will make again.
SO happy to hear that!
Can you substitute the peanut butter for almond butter?
I haven’t tried it myself! I’m guessing it won’t work as a one for one substitute. This recipe needs a creamy peanut butter, and almond butter is usually thicker and contains less sugar.
Oh, sounds delish. I have been making a quick bread each week during this time at home, but had never heard of a peanut butter bread. If I divide into mini pans what do you think for a baking time? Thanks. (I may get crazy and add chocolate chips to the batter. Or, swirl some raspberry jam throughout, once I have the batter in the pans!)
Hi Paula! It really depends on the size of the mini pans, there are so many types now! I would probably check on them at 15 minutes and adjust from there.
Can I make muffins instead ? How much time would they need to be in the oven if I make muffins?
Hi Marina! I haven’t tried baking this recipe as muffins, so I’m not sure what the appropriate baking time would be.
I’d set your timer for 15-18 min and do the toothpick test. Add more time to the timer in 2-3 min increments till the toothpick inserted is clean. I’ve had some bake fully in 18 min; some need closer to 25 min. Hope this helps.
Eating this right now, couldn’t even wait for the loaf to completely cool. Slathered my sliced bread with strawberry jam, heavenly. Where has this recipe been all my life? I even had to use vanilla yogurt because that was all I had. Oh my!
Did yogurt work well? I have plain 2% Greek, maybe that would work as a sub for sour cream?
Delicious! I’m going to make another loaf with chocolate chips mixed in!
Dark or light brown sugar?
I typically have light brown sugar in my pantry!
Is there a reason you can’t use natural peanut butter? I do not buy non-natural ever, and I use my natural one in every recipe so far and it’s never been an issue.
Hi Cheryl, I haven’t tried it with natural peanut butter to know if it will work okay. Natural PB typically doesn’t have the same sugar content as regular PB so the texture of the bread may be different.
I have to sub Almond milk for the regular milk, But I don’t have a sub for the Sour cream. Any Ideas if it would work without it or if there is another nondairy item I could use?
Greek yogurt typically subs well for sour cream.
I made this peanut butter bread this morning for our Sunday brunch. The only change I made was to use crunchy peanut butter instead of creamy. It was absolutely delicious!!! Everyone loved it and I will definitely be making it again.
Can you freeze this bread ??
Hi Kathi! You can definitely freeze this bread. Allow it to cool completely, then wrap it well in plastic wrap with an outer layer of aluminum foil.
This look so good! It is nice to mix up the breads from sweet to savory! Does it matter what kind of peanut butter you use?
I used creamy peanut butter, like Jif or Skippy.
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
3 days in an air tight container!
I am out of baking powder. Any idea if I can use self-rising flour instead? Thank you.
Hi Beth, I live in Wyo. What are the adjustments for high altitudes.
Thank-you,
Sharee
Hi Sharee! I don’t have experience baking at high altitude, sorry!
This was great! So easy.
New keeper recipe for my family
So, is everyone baking in a 9×5 or an 8×4 pan? I don’t want a flat-topped loaf, I love a nice rounded one!