Peanut Butter Chocolate Filled Banana Bread

 Banana bread is such a delicious snack and its truely a classic! I'm pretty sure most of us grew up eating banana bread (I know I did!!). My mom would often bake banana bread for us and I always loved it when she would put chocolate chips in it. This time I decided to depart a bit from the classic and changed it up by putting a layer of peanut butter chocolate yumminess in the middle of this loaf. It was a total success. The loaf has disappeared quickly in our house with requests for a repeat being made frequently. :) So, today I'm going to share this delish recipe with you.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Filled Banana Bread
Recipe adapted from Starting Out by Julie Van Rosendaal

Ingredients:
Banana Bread:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup low fat greek yogurt (honey or vanilla flavour is nice, but plain is okay too)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Filling:

• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
• 1/4 cup milk

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray an 8x4 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until well combined - mixture will have the consistency of wet sand. Add the bananas, eggs, yogurt and vanilla and beat until wel blended.
3. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and gently stir with a spatula until just combined.
4. Pour one half of the batter into the prepared pan. Then prepare the peanut butter and chocolate mixture by combining all four ingredients and stirring until smooth. Spread chocolate peanut butter mixture on top of batter in pan, then top with the remaining banana bread batter.
5. Bake in preheated oven for one hour and ten minutes, or until the top is cracked and springy to the touch. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

This is such a great twist on a classic recipe. It comes together really quick - perfect to make for a Sunday morning breakfast or to bake up and take in lunches. :)

This post has been linked up with the Recipe Party over at the Sweet Spot! Head on over and check out the other delectable goods other bloggers have created this week. :)

Happy Baking my Friends!! I'm looking forward to a marathon weekend in the kitchen, so you should have some yummy posts to look forward to next week. :D