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Peanut butter bread is moist, rich and bursting with peanut butter flavor. Add chocolate chips or spread peanut butter onto this quick bread and enjoy it for breakfast or as a snack!
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 once I tried peanut butter bread, I realized it’s a contender for the top spot in my heart against banana bread!
If you want to add chocolate chips to this recipe, DO IT! It tastes like a giant reese’s cup then!
Peanut Butter Loaf Recipe Ingredients
creamy peanut butter: adds flavor
granulated sugar & brown sugar: adds sweetness and flavor
egg: binds the batter together by providing structure
vegetable oil: adds fat and moisture
buttermilk: makes the bread moist & fluffy
vanilla extract: adds flavor
all purpose flour: flour is necessary to build structure
baking powder: helps to leaven and lift the batter
salt: just a pinch to balance the sweetness and enhances the other flavor
How to make peanut butter bread
- Combine the peanut butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar with electric mixer.
- Add in eggs, buttermilk and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake.
Total Time Required for this Peanut Butter Bread Recipe
- 5-10 minutes to prep the batter
- Bake for 60-70 minutes at 350ºF
- 30-60 minutes to cool
Peanut Butter Quick Bread Pro Tips
Tip #1 – 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.
Tip #2 – 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.
Tip #3 – Know what size loaf pan you have
- 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 55-65 minutes and 9×5 inch pan is 45-60 minutes.
How to properly measure flour
- Fluff the flour with a fork
- Use a spoon to scoop the flour into your measuring cup
- Use a butter knife to level off the flour in the measuring cup
Sticking the measuring cup straight into the bag of flour will result in too much flour to be packed into the cup, which can result in dry peanut butter bread.
Peanut Bread Recipe Variations
- Crumb Topping. Take these blueberry muffins to the next level by topping them with our ultimate crumb topping.
- Nuts. Add in ½ cup of chopped nuts.
- Extra Cinnamon. Add in ½ cup of cinnamon chips.
- Zest it up a bit. If you like a fresh, zesty taste, try adding the zest of a lemon to your muffin batter.
Gluten free peanut butter bread
I have made this bread multiple times with King Arthur’s Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour with great success. You can also try another brand of gluten free all purpose flour. Be sure to measure the flour properly.
How to store Peanut Butter Bread
To Freeze:
Individually wrap each muffin in plastic wrap. Then place them in a ziploc bag or airtight container and place in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To Thaw:
To thaw, leave them at room temperature until defrosted, about 1 hour. Or unwrap them and microwave at 20 second intervals until defrosted.
How long does Peanut Butter Quick Bread last at room temperature?
Peanut butter quick bread can typically last for about 2 to 3 days when stored at room temperature in an airtight container or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.
Does Peanut Bread need to be refrigerated?
Peanut butter bread can last a couple of days at room temperature if well-sealed, but for longer storage, especially beyond 2-3 days, it’s better to refrigerate it.
More like this recipe for Peanut Butter Bread
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Quick Peanut Butter Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter, not natural
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F. 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, buttermilk and vanilla extract, mix briefly. Gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt, mixing on low to prevent over mixing. Be sure to mix just until combined.
- Spray a loaf pan (either 9×5 or 8.5×4.5 – it’s important to know what size pan you have) with non-stick cooking spray. Transfer the batter to the pan and spread even with a spatula.
- Place the pan in the center of the oven and bake for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes check to see if the bread is browning too much. If so, tent the bread with aluminum foil and bake for 10-20 more minutes. **If you didn’t tent at 45 minutes, check again at 55 minutes, then tent, and bake for 10 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 55-65 minutes and 9×5 inch pan is 45-60 minutes. Be sure to know what size your pan is.
- Allow the loaf to cool completely before slicing or removing it from the pan.
Notes
Nutrition
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.
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.
Mayo is a good non dairy replacer for sour cream in quickbreads. I use it in my banana bread all the time.
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.