I’m having a terrible morning.
I bundled Theo up to walk the dog (sweater, warm jacket, mitts, hat), put him in his bike/stroller thingy, and only 20 minutes into our game of fetch at the park did I notice that I FORGOT BOOTS. Poor little guy. At least he had socks. Which are like mitts for his feet… and we don’t put boots on our hands… so by if you follow the logic, it’s okay, I’m still a good mom.
(And for the record, it’s quite mild in Vancouver – so he wasn’t freezing or anything.)
Anyway, then I came inside and poured the boiling water all over my fingers instead of on my teabag. Once semi-recovered, I brewed my tea, reached for the carton of cream, which was open, and gave it a good shake.
WHO THE BLOODY HELL SHAKES CREAM?!
Related: Best-Ever Moist Banana Bread Recipe
I asked this surprisingly calmly to myself as I surveyed the cream splattered kitchen while cradling my throbbing red hand. I don’t even put cream in tea.
On a much happier note, it turns out that deeply toasted peanuts and melty, good-quality dark chocolate make amazing banana bread even amazing-er. Knowing this was to be my breakfast is the sole reason that I didn’t give up on the day and go back to bed.
It smelled so good in the oven that I couldn’t wait to slice it. I wrecked the appearance of one loaf in my greedy gobbling. But life (and more specifically: toddler nap-time) is short, so meh.
I initially was working on this recipe just as a way to make two loaves of the best banana bread ever at once.  When I simply double that one, it tastes soapy from too much baking soda.  I’ve made it now a few times as written below, but with and without nuts. Feel free to swap in walnuts, or leave them out completely.
UPDATE: I forgot to explain the last photo – I always make two loaves, and halve them. I keep one half for now, give one half away, and freeze the remaining two halves to pacify future-Jenn on a craptastic morning to come. 🙂
Peanut Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups 13.5 oz all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 cups mashed banana
- 1 cup butter melted
- ½ cup milk
- 2 eggs lightly beaten with a fork
- â…” cup chopped dark chocolate/chocolate chips or 1 full cup if you like more chocolate!, plus more for sprinkling on top
- â…” cup roasted unsalted peanuts peanuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line two 9x5" loaf pans with parchment paper or grease well with butter.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate bowl, stir together mashed banana, melted butter, milk and eggs. Add to dry ingredients and fold together until combined with some floury streaks remaining. Add chocolate and peanuts and gently fold in.
- Divide batter between baking pans and bake for about 55 minutes, until top springs back when pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes in pans, then invert into a dishtowel and flip onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. If you're able to.
