Chocolate Peanut Butter Marbled Banana Bread

When I was younger, my sisters and I used to love peanut butter sandwiches with chocolate chips sprinkled on top. Then, as I got older, peanut butter and banana sandwiches became my fave. To think though, in all those years, it never occurred to me to combine all three for the ultimate taste sensation.

It's all good though, because I found a bread recipe that does just that - Chocolate Peanut Butter Marbled Banana Bread from Merlot's blog, Goddess of Baking. The recipe is an original creation of Emily from Sugar Plum (love her blog), and so I just knew I was in for something delicious.

The recipe makes a lot of batter. Altogether, I had enough to make three mini loaves and muffins besides. When it came to the muffins, I decided not to go through the trouble of swirling the two batters and simply just made two types of muffins - chocolate banana and banana peanut butter.



The loaves and muffins rise very high and the sprinkling of chocolate chips on top adds just the right touch (I used white chocolate chips and semisweet). The original recipe uses peanut butter chips and I just know that those would definitely go well with the bread. I don't think I'd be against the idea of using chopped up Reese's peanut butter cups either (oh boy would that ever be the best).


The bread was very yummy, but I couldn't really taste the peanut butter. I think if I had used the peanut butter chips, it would have stood out more. Strangely enough, I also found that I liked this more with the batters separate in the mini muffin form rather than all mixed together. The chocolate banana muffins were my especial favorite so, in a roundabout way, I've now found a great recipe for those.


Still, though, if you like the chocolate-peanut butter-banana combo, I highly suggest that you give this bread a try. At the very least, if you're like me, you'll have a batch of chocolate banana muffins that you'll adore.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Marbled Banana Bread (adapted from Goddess of Baking and Sugar Plum)

2 1/3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 medium bananas, very ripe and mashed
3/4 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. milk (I used fat-free yogurt)
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
chocolate chips or white chocolate chips (for sprinkling on top)

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 9-inch loaf pan or three mini loaf pans + 1 mini muffin pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk in chocolate and peanut butter chips until combined.

Beat together bananas and peanut butter until creamy, about 1 min. Beat in sugars until creamy, about 1 min. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.

Gradually beat in flour mixture, alternating with milk, until well-combined - about 2 min. Remove half of the batter and put it into another bowl (about 2 cups). Sift the cocoa powder into one of the bowls and beat until combined. Alternate spoonfuls of banana batter and chocolate batter into the pan(s). When all the batter is in the pan(s), swirl a knife sparingly through the batters to marble them. Sprinkle with additional chocolate and peanut butter chips, if desired.

Alternately, you can do like I did and just spoon the batters separately into a mini muffin tin without combining them.

Bake for 60-65 min. (large loaf) or 40-45 min. (mini loaves) or 12-15 min. (mini muffins). Bread will rise up, turn deep golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into it will come out with moist crumbs attached.

Cool on a wire rack for 30 min. Run a knife around the outer edges and invert onto wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

For the mini muffins, you can press a chocolate chip into the middle of each one while the muffins are still warm (semisweet for the banana-peanut butter muffins and a white chocolate chip for the chocolate-banana muffins).

This recipe is linked to:
So Sweet Sundays
Muffin Mondays
My Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Midnight Maniac Meatless Monday
A Little Birdie Told Me
Hearth n' Soul Hop
Tuesday Night Supper Club

Sweets for a Saturday #19

Talk about sweet weeks. I've been in the kitchen this week trying one chocolate chip cookie recipe after another. Yes, I've decided to embark upon the Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Quest of 2011 to finally find out, once and for all, which is the BEST recipe out there (as of this post I've got six down, a seventh ready to be baked, and about 5-6 more to go). It's a "tough" job tasting all those cookies, but someone's gotta do it. All the recipes, along with all my thoughts and notes on them (and a comparison between them all), will be posted throughout the month of June, so stay tuned! You won't want to miss this.

That said, if any of you have what you think is the ULTIMATE must-try chocolate chip cookie recipe, please share (either by including the recipe or a link to your cookie post in the comments section). Your fave recipe may already be on my list, but I'd love to see how yours turned out (just so I can have a comparison when I make mine). If your recipe isn't on my list, I may not have a chance to make it, but I'll definitely keep it on hand to make in the future (once the present cookie coma has worn off).

Okay, now that I'm done plugging that, here's your Top 5 from last week's Sweets for a Saturday:

1. Buttermilk Pancakes w/ Maple Syrup - Catalina Bakes



2. Chocolate Crunch Brownies - A Well-Seasoned Life



3. Reese's Cheesecake - My Sweet Creations



4. Easy Caramel Sauce - Happy Home Blog



5. Homemade Pop-Tarts - My Sweet Creations



The Rules:

1. Please link up to the URL of your post, not the URL of your main blog. When it asks for "Name", type in the name of your treat.
   
2. Please leave a link back to this post in your post or Grab My Button.
   
3. Share your delicious sweets from this week. If you've made more than one during the week, feel free to link them all up.
   
4. Leave me a comment telling me that you've linked up.
   
5. Please visit at least two others and comment on their wonderful additions to this party.

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Irish Soda Bread Biscuit

I love Irish Soda Bread and see no reason why it can't be made all year round instead of only during the month of March. So, when I came across this recipe on Mikelle's site, Food, Fun, Life, I decided to go ahead and make it. Who cares if it's May?

It's different from other soda breads I've made in that it uses eggs and butter. I wondered how that would change the texture and taste. Mikelle described it as being like a giant biscuit and that's exactly what it is!!! The outside is so deliciously crunchy while the inside is soft and fluffy. I couldn't keep my hands off of this one. Spread with butter and jam this would be nothing short of incredible. I think this would even make great drop biscuits. Oh the possibilities.

Irish Soda Bread (Food, Fun, Life)

3 c. flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 egg
1 1/2 - 2 c. buttermilk

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Cut in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add the egg and the buttermilk. Mix until just moistened (it will look like biscuit dough). Form the dough into a ball in a greased round cake pan. Bake at 350F for about 45 min. or until browned and sounds hollow when tapped.

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Bread

I've loved strawberries ever since I was a kid. Strawberries with a sprinkle of sugar or strawberries with cream and sugar, there was just nothing like it. But, strangely enough, I had never heard of chocolate covered strawberries. Then, one day, we went to a bakery and there they were, these bright red strawberries dressed in little dark and white chocolate tuxedos. We picked up a few to try and brought them home. I stared at them eagerly before finally taking a bite. And . . . I didn't like it. The combo just seemed a little odd to me.

Fast forward to the present and my tastes in food have clearly changed because I now love the combination of chocolate and strawberry. How two contrasting flavors can meld together so well is beyond me. That's why I knew I'd love this Strawberry Chocolate Chip Bread as soon as I saw it on Sweet Pea's Kitchen.


The bread was exactly as I imagined it would be. It was popping with flavor and every bite tasted just like sweet chocolate covered strawberries. It's definitely best when eaten straight from the oven and the chocolate chips are still gooey and melty and the pieces of strawberry are warm and juicy. Oohhh, it's a bread that will leave you begging for more.

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Bread (from Sweet Pea's Kitchen)

2 c. fresh strawberries
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. vegetable oiil
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan or three mini loaf pans.

Puree 1 cup of strawberries in a blender. Transfer to a medium bowl. Dice remaining 1 cup of strawberries and place in the bowl with the puree. Sprinkle with 3/4 c. sugar and set aside.

Combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add oil, eggs, and vanilla to the strawberry mixture and stir to combine. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, blending until dry ingredients are just moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into loaf pan(s) and smooth surface with a rubber spatula.

Bake until top is golden and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 45-50 min. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 min. Turn out onto the wire rack and cool complete.

Notes:
1. I made half a batch and got 1 mini loaf and 8 mini muffins.
2. I tossed the chocolate chips with a little flour before adding them so they wouldn't sink.

This recipe is linked to:
Tuesday Night Supper Club
My Meatless Monday
Just Another Meatless Monday
Tasty Tuesday
A Little Birdie Told Me
These Chicks Cooked
Recipes I Can't Wait to Try
Made it on Monday
Full Plate Thursday
Whisking Wednesday
Sweet Tooth Friday
Friday's Potluck
Fit and Fabulous Fridays
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Themed Bakers' Sunday

Sweets for a Saturday #18

I've certainly had a wonderful week making all sorts of treats. I bet you did too. Maybe you even made some of the things you saw on last week's Sweets for a Saturday. In case you missed it, here are last week's Top 5:

1. Soft Cookies with Pink Icing - Eat Cake for Dinner



2. Cherry and Vanilla Layered Cake - Jam Hands



3. Southern Caramel Cake - Indulge



4. Birthday Cake Fudge - Dreaming of White Chocolate



5. Peanut Butter Texas Sheet Cake - A Well-Seasoned Life



The Rules:

1. Please link up to the URL of your post, not the URL of your main blog. When it asks for "Name", type in the name of your treat.
   
2. Please leave a link back to this post in your post or Grab My Button.
   
3. Share your delicious sweets from this week. If you've made more than one during the week, feel free to link them all up.
   
4. Leave me a comment telling me that you've linked up.
   
5. Please visit at least two others and comment on their wonderful additions to this party.

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Japanese Dinner Tag Menu

It looks like I've been tagged! Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker started this challenge where you have to create a meal in pictures using only posts that you already have on your blog. It's been going around the blogosphere and now Erin of Making Memories One Fun Thing After Another has extended it to me. My first thought was naturally, how in the world am I going to pull this off? As you know, the majority of my posts are about one sweet treat or another. Well, although it was tempting to have a meal consisting of nothing but desserts (wouldn't that be a dream come true), I decided instead to honor my heritage and share a Japanese themed meal.

Sukiyaki


Broiled Sushi

Butter Mochi Cake

And now it's time to tag some others:

Rochelle of The Pretend Chef
Raina of The Garden of Yum
Katie of This Chick Cooks
Amy of uTry.it

This recipe is linked to:
Themed Bakers' Sunday

Guest Post - Chocolate Waffle Iron Cookies

If Mr. Waffle and Mrs. Cookie had a child, it would be the the waffle cookie! Waffle cookies are baked in a waffle iron, giving them the same pockets and soft consistency as waffles, but with the flavor of delicious chocolate cookies. Waffle cookies are a hit not matter where I take them! And the best part is? They are incredibly quick and easy to make! This recipe is one that was handed down from my grandma, to my mom, and now to me.

Waffle Cookies

Recipe yields 3 dozen

Cookie:

1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
6 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 cups flour

Icing:

2 tablespoons margarine
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 tablespoon milk
Make icing by melting margarine on the stove top. Add cocoa and milk, and add powdered sugar to thicken to frosting consistency.

1. Warm waffle iron.


2. Cream margarine and sugar, add eggs and vanilla.


3. Add cocoa, cinnamon, salt, and milk. Beat well.


4. Add flour and baking powder. Mix well.


5. Drop one spoon of dough in each square of waffle iron. Close lid. Bake 1 minute.


6. Open waffle iron. Remove cookies using a fork. Ice cookies while warm. It's easiest to ice the cookies during the minute the next batch is cooking.

Author bio: Sarah Beckman is a bride-to-be who is trying her hardest to master the art of cooking before her October wedding. She loves to cook with her mom, and her specialties are tacos, homemade pizza, and various types of cookies.

The Secret Recipe Club - Orange Chocolate Chip Bread

I love trying new recipes from other people's blogs. So I jumped at the chance to become a part of the Secret Recipe Club hosted by Amanda of Amanda's Cookin'. Each month, you're assigned to another person's blog and you get to choose one recipe from it to make and share.


The fun twist is that you can't tell anyone whose blog you have - it's a secret, shhhh - until you finally post about it. Anyone is free to join in as long as you have at least 60 recipe posts on your blog. All you have to do is click on the link and sign up.

This month, I was assigned to Rachel's blog, Tangerine's Kitchen. There were so many delicious looking recipes there that I had the hardest time choosing what to make. But, I finally narrowed it down to this Orange Choco-Chip Loaf. Rachel altered the recipe from the original to give it more orange flavor, and you know that's what I like.


When they came out of the oven, I took a taste and it was popping with orange flavor, exactly the way I'd want an orange bread to be. The crust on the outside even had an orange-y sugary caramelized taste and texture. And, due to all the orange zest and juice, the loaves were a beautiful pale orange color, delightful!!!


Unfortunately, although I floured my chocolate chips before mixing them in, they still all sank to the bottom.


But, do not weep for those missing chips because they found their way into my tummy and they were delicious.

Some chocolate chips survived.

All in all, the orange bread was one incredibly yummy delight and was eaten up in just two days. I would definitely make this again. Thanks so much Rachel for the fantastic recipe!

Orange Chocolate Chip Bread (from Tangerine's Kitchen)

zest from 3 oranges (about 3 Tbsp.)
juice from 3 oranges (about 1 cup)
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 vanilla bean (I used 1 tsp. vanilla)
1 c. chocolate chips

Grease one 9x5 loaf pan or 3 mini loaf pans. Preheat the oven to 350F.

Rub the orange zest into the sugar with your fingers until it is fragrant and moist. Combine the dry ingredients with the sugar. Combine the wet ingredients. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the pan(s) and sprinkle some chocolate chips on top. Bake 30-45 min. or until the bread tests done.

Note: My changes to the recipe are in red.

This recipe is linked to:
A Little Birdie Told Me
Tuesday Night Supper Club
Whisking Wednesday
Made it on Monday
Recipes I Can't Wait to Try
Full Plate Thursday
Friday's Potluck
Sweet Tooth Friday
So Sweet Sundays

Sweets for a Saturday #17

I'm so glad that Blogger is back on so that Sweets for a Saturday could go up as planned. It's definitely been a good week. I just found out that I passed the Hawaii State Bar Exam. Yippeee!!! That's a load off my mind and I'm now ready to celebrate by looking at all the delicious things that you've been creating in your kitchens this week. First off, your Top 7 (with a four-way tie for 4th) and then we'll get this party started.

1. Mocha Tiramisu Cupcakes - uTry.it


2. Lemon Bliss Truffles - Awaken Your Senses



3. Fifth Avenue Bars - A Well-Seasoned Life


4. Caramel Oat Bars - Hannah in the Kitchen


4. Oreo Swirl Brownies - Brandy's Baking


4. Three-Layer Lemon Bars - My Five Men


4. Mini-Donut Cupcakes - Let's Get Cookin'



The Rules:

1. Please link up to the URL of your post, not the URL of your main blog. When it asks for "Name", type in the name of your treat.
   
2. Please leave a link back to this post in your post or Grab My Button.
   
3. Share your delicious sweets from this week. If you've made more than one during the week, feel free to link them all up.
   
4. Leave me a comment telling me that you've linked up.
   
5. Please visit at least two others and comment on their wonderful additions to this party.

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Ginger Ice Cream

A long time ago, I read the book Jurassic Park (and yes I'm also that old that I saw it when it came out in the movie theaters). In it, there was this one part where Mr. Hammond is eating a dish of ginger ice cream and raving about how delicious it is. I know, you're wondering where I'm going with this. Well, ever since then, I couldn't get the idea of ginger ice cream out of my head. I've wondered what it tasted like and was it really that good? Of course, I never found anyone who sold it, so for years I've had to go on with my curiosity intact.




Then, I went on this ice cream making blitz and the idea of ginger ice cream once again came to mind. Forget buying it, I was going to make my own. I found an eggless recipe for it on Tartelette and modified it slightly by using only skim milk and decreasing the sugar. One spoonful and I finally knew what Mr. Hammond was talking about. The ice cream is truly delicious. It has a sweet heat from the ginger that contrasts sharply with the cold creaminess. The best part is that you're satisfied after eating only a small dish of it. It may have taken almost two decades for me to finally be able to taste this delicacy, but it was definitely worth the wait.


Ginger Ice Cream (adapted from Tartelette)

1 1/2 c. skim milk
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, finely grated

In a large saucepan, stir together the milk, sugar, and ginger. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium low heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and let steep as it cools to room temperature. Refrigerate, preferably overnight. Strain if desired. Pour into your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

This recipe is linked to:
Made It On Monday
Friday Potluck
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
So Sweet Sundays

Brown Sugar Chai Spice Ice Cream

There was a gallon of milk just sitting in my fridge, which isn't so bad except that it had to be drunk up/used within several days. So, the question was, what could I do with it? I needed a recipe that would use up a lot of milk at one go, but things like bread pudding, rice pudding, and french toast just didn't seem to interest me. Then, it hit me. ICE CREAM!!!

I confess that ice cream is one of my weaknesses. Cakes, cookies, and pies are all well and good, but ice cream is the one "staple" that I always have to have in my house. The majority of the recipes I found, however, all contained egg yolks and that's something I'd prefer to avoid. Then, I found a recipe for vanilla ice cream which called for only milk (okay I guess that would make it a vanilla ice milk). But, technicalities aside, it sounded pretty good to me.

Still though, there was a little part of my brain that said, "Why go simple when you can go superb?" I decided to create my own flavor of ice cream. First, I swapped out the white sugar for brown sugar. Then, I began to think of what would go well with that taste. Hmmm, brown sugar and chai seem to complement each other well, so why not go with that? I added some of my chai spice blend and a little vanilla, mixed it all well, and took a taste of the milk. Oh my gosh. It was super good. I could already tell this was going to be one fab ice cream.

After churning it till it was the consistency of soft-serve, I took another taste of the finished product. What else can I say except that I love it!!! Not only does it taste good, it's also fat-free and still stayed creamy even after being in the freezer. Hot diggity dog! Creating your own stuff is definitely fun, like being a scientist in a lab, but even better because you get to eat the results. Speaking of eating the results, I'm off to the kitchen right now to do just that.




Brown Sugar Chai Spice Ice Cream (created by Lisa of Sweet as Sugar Cookies)

2 c. milk (I used skim)
1/2 c. + 1 Tbsp. light brown sugar
3/4 tsp. chai spice blend (see below)
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Chai Spice (Sweet as Sugar Cookies blend)

4 tsp. cinnamon
4 tsp. ginger powder
2 tsp. cardamom
2 tsp. cloves (or allspice)
1/2 tsp. white pepper

Combine the milk, brown sugar, chai spice, and vanilla and mix well. Pour into the bowl of your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

Note: If you want a creamier ice cream, feel free to substitute the milk with whole milk, half-and-half, cream, or a combination of them for your desired consistency.

This recipe is linked to:
My Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Midnight Maniac Meatless Monday
Make a Food-e Friend Monday
Made It On Monday
So Sweet Sundays
Tuesday Night Supper Club
Hearth n' Soul Hop
A Little Birdie Told Me
Tasty Tuesdays
Dr. Laura's Tasty Tuesdays
Sweet Tooth Friday
Recipes I Can't Wait to Try
Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Sweets for a Saturday #16

Well, it's finally here. My Sweets for a Saturday has now reached Sweet Sixteen. How cool is that? Time to party hardy and make this a real blowout with tons of delicious treats. And to get the party started, here's your Top 5 from last week:

1. Rainbow Cake - Kimmy's Kitchen



2. White Texas Sheet Cake - A Well-Seasoned Life



3. Caramel Pie - Let's Get Cookin'



4. Easy Cream Cheese Danish - This Chick Cooks



4. Peanut Butter Snickers Brownies - Brandy's Baking



The Rules:

1. Please link up to the URL of your post, not the URL of your main blog. When it asks for "Name", type in the name of your treat.
   
2. Please leave a link back to this post in your post or Grab My Button.
   
3. Share your delicious sweets from this week. If you've made more than one during the week, feel free to link them all up.
   
4. Leave me a comment telling me that you've linked up.
   
5. Please visit at least two others and comment on their wonderful additions to this party.

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