peanut butter & jelly banana bread

Banana bread and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches are the two most characteristically American foods I can think of! Maybe when I ask you to name American foods, you think of hamburgers or barbecue or even hot dogs, but for me it's these two sweet treats. I lived in Europe for half my life, and I had literally never even seen peanut butter before moving to the States, and the first time I tasted banana bread was when we moved to Texas and the neighbors brought over a loaf as a welcome gift. Maybe other foods come to mind first because they are known across the globe as stereotypical American foods, but these two are things that I don't think are even found anywhere else. So, long story short, I decided to mash the two up into this gorgeous, delicious Frankenstein of a loaf. It's seriously the best thing ever.

For the "base" recipe of this banana bread, I decided to use my boyfriend's mom's famous recipe, which is basically flawless. It's so easy to make, and it bakes up into a dense, fluffy, flavorful loaf. It's perfect as-is, but then I decided to swirl in some peanut butter and locally made strawberry jam, which made it even better! This quick-bread is so simple to make and utterly delicious, and if you like PB&J sandwiches and banana bread, you better believe that they are even better when combined!

Print Recipe

peanut butter & jelly banana bread

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Servings: 1 9x5 loaf

Author: Valentina | The Baking Fairy

Ingredients

• ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 large bananas mashed
• 2 cups unbleached white flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup milk
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup peanut butter {smooth or chunky whatever you prefer; natural is okay, too}
• ½ cup strawberry jam
• nonstick spray

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350F, and generously spray a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick spray.
• In a large bowl, use a mixer to beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add in the egg and vanilla, and beat to combine; then add in the mashed bananas.
• Pour in 1 cup of the flour, along with the salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
• Mix until combined, then add in the milk and mix in slowly.
• Finally, add in the rest of the flour and mix until smooth.
• Add about half the peanut butter into the batter, and mix vigorously to combine.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and drop spoonfuls of the remaining peanut butter and jam on top.
• Using a butter knife, swirl the toppings around and into the banana bread. Make sure you don't mix them in too much!
• Bake for about 40 minutes in preheated oven, then cover with foil and bake for 20-30 additional minutes.
• Let cool completely before removing from pan and cutting!