Jessica's Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Good morning everyone!  How’s the weekend going for you? I know I’ve been loving mine 🙂  But before we get to Jessica’s Peanut Butter Banana Bread I just have to show you some of the pictures from the baby shower for our friends Jason & Stephanie!  They have an amazing story of grace, and it is just the biggest blessing to have been their friends as they have gone through this pregnancy.  Baby Boy is due November 4!  It feels like just yesterday Steph called to say she was pregnant…

These next few are when Nate hijacked the camera…

And here are the parents-to-be!  I really can’t wait to meet their little one soon…only a few months away!

When we got home from the baby shower I got to work on making Jessica’s Peanut Butter Banana Bread for church this morning.  I’ve listed the recipe below from How Sweet It Is, and then listed the changes I had to make because I forgot my grocery list earlier:

PEANUT BUTTER BANANA BREAD

• 1 cup all purpose flour (upped this to 1 1/4 cups because of the high altitude)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 ounces cream cheese (used 2 oz. Greek yogurt)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 4 large bananas, mashed
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup heavy cream (used 1/3 cup almond milk)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup peanut butter chips

I also decided that I had some extra chocolate chips and therefore needed to make a ganache for the topping…you know, just to push it over the top.  Besides, the whole wheat flour makes it healthier so I’m just trying to balance it out!  First you have to preheat the oven.  I baked mine at 325 because my oven is hotter than normal and at high altitudes you kind of have to lower the oven temp for better, more even baking.  Then I creamed together the peanut butter, butter, Greek yogurt, and brown sugar:

And the promptly got in baking mode and forgot to take pictures of the rest.  However I then added the egg, almond milk, vanilla, and mixed for 2-3 minutes, THEN added the mashed bananas and mixed until smooth.  Sift together the dry ingredients (flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder), and slowly incorporate into the wet mixture.  Fold in the peanut butter chips (only after eating a couple…it’s all about quality control)!  After pouring it into my loaf pan I decided that it was too small and surely would spill over the sides, so I re-poured the batter into a greased 8×8 baking dish:

Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until golden brown and a knife inserted comes out clean.  Let cool completely before topping with ganache, or just eat it warm straight out of the pan.  You know, whatever floats your boat.  Now, onward to the ganache!

EASY GANACHE

• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 Tbsp honey

For this you’re going to want to have a double-boiler.  You can also use a heat-safe bowl over a pot of simmering water, but just make sure you have an oven mitt or something nearby so you don’t burn yourself.  Safety first kids!

Now when I say simmering water, I mean simmering, not boiling.  I had my stove turned on low heat.  This means it will take a little longer than you might like, but it’s 100% worth it to take the time to do it right!  Another thing to note is that you will need to babysit this and stir it constantly…like, all the time.  Again, super annoying if you’re wanting to rush it but totally worth it in the end!  At first your mixture should look like this:

And as time wears on the cream will turn from stark white to chocolate-milk-color:

STIRSTIRSTIR!!!  The only break you get is to grab the honey!

Once all the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth stir in the 1 Tbsp of honey.  It makes it shiny and adds some great depth of flavor!  Next pour it on top of the bread:

Oh my.

Next take a knife and spread it all over the cake.  I guess I should mention that I did this on a cooling rack over some foil for easy clean-up…it’s that laziness in me coming out again!  Now I put mine in the fridge overnight for the following reasons:

1. To harden the ganache
2. To make it easier to cut in the morning
3. To make sure the dogs didn’t eat it off the counter overnight
4. To hide it from Nate in case he got hungry in the middle of the night 🙂

This morning I was greeted by the smell of heaven enveloped in chocolate…

Jessica my dear, you have done it again…truly amazing!  If I hadn’t made this specifically to share at church then I would have eaten the entire thing for breakfast.  OK, fine, I would have given Nate a piece too 😉

Happy Sunday everyone!