Buckeye Banana Bread Recipe
Buckeye Banana Bread is filled with peanut butter flavor and a sweet banana taste with melted chocolate combined to make a delicious chocolate chip banana peanut butter taste explosion! The bread is tender with a rich filling similar to buckeye candy. The moist texture and sweet flavor make this bread perfect for a dessert, snack, or appetizer.
Banana bread is the most sought-after bread recipe in the United States. Even though bananas started becoming popular in the late 1800s, banana bread did not come along until the 1930s, when baking powders became available. With households unwilling to toss out any type of food during the Depression, even overripe bananas were used in different recipes including banana bread.
If you have never had buckeye candy, but you love peanut butter, you are going to love this buckeye chocolate banana bread! The addition of filling to the traditional banana bread makes this dish unique and kids absolutely love it! In fact, everyone will love this fun sweet bread.
Ingredients needed:
Each ingredient is important so consider each one before you substitute or omit anything. Once you gather all the ingredients, scroll down to our recipe card for all the details.
Filling ingredients:
- Cream cheese: For the best results, use softened full-fat cream cheese. This will give you extra moist bread.
- White granulated sugar: You can cut this amount in half if you like it less sweet.
- Brown sugar: An extra addition of rich brown sugar is just delicious.
- Large egg: Make sure your egg is at room temperature for easier incorporation.
- Peanut butter: It is best to use full-fat peanut butter, but you can use what you like.
- Pure vanilla extract: Vanilla brings out the other flavors nicely. Use the high-quality stuff for the best results.
Bread ingredients:
- All-purpose flour: Be careful when measuring so you do not use too much. It will make your bread dry and crumbly.
- Ripe bananas: Your bananas should be brown or black and very soft, easy to smash with a fork. The darker they are, the sweeter they will be.
- White granulated sugar: Once again, you can cut this in half for less sugar.
- Melted butter: Let your butter cool to room temperature after melting.
- Pure vanilla extract: To bring out the other flavors.
- Large eggs: Use at room temperature for better incorporation.
- Sour cream: Full-fat sour cream at room temperature is best.
- Melted chocolate: At room temperature.
- Chocolate chips: For extra flavor.
- Cocoa powder: This is an important ingredient for the buckeye taste.
- Baking soda: Not baking powder. For leavening.
- Kosher salt: Just a pinch to balance the sweetness.
How to make buckeye banana bread from scratch?
- Preheat oven: First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Mix it up: In the meantime, combine cream cheese with both sugars, vanilla, egg, and peanut butter in a medium bowl with a hand mixer. Beat until smooth and place in the fridge to chill while you make the banana bread batter.
- Mash bananas: Next, place bananas in a large bowl and mash. Then add butter, vanilla, eggs, sugar, and butter. Beat until it is smooth. Then, mix in the melted chocolate and sour cream until fully incorporated.
- Combine dry and wet ingredients: After, add flour, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a separate bowl. Then, mix it into the wet ingredients until no flour remains. Last, fold in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula until incorporated.
- Fill the pan: Now, pour half the batter into your prepared loaf pan and add the peanut butter layer on top in a smooth layer. Top with the rest of the chocolate batter and smooth the top.
- Bake, cool, and serve: Last, bake your bread for 75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let it cool for 15 minutes before you turn it out on a rack to cool completely before serving.
Recipe variations:
- Less sugar: For those who are cutting back on sugar, you can substitute the white sugar for agave nectar.
- No cocoa powder: Out of cocoa powder? That is okay. You can use a little more melted chocolate. Just add an extra tablespoon of flour.
- Hot cocoa: Another substitute for cocoa powder is hot cocoa. Just use two teaspoons of hot cocoa mix for every teaspoon of cocoa powder. Also, reduce the granulated sugar just a bit.
- Chocolate chip banana bread: Toss the chips with a teaspoon of flour before adding it to the batter so they will not all sink to the bottom.
- Use yogurt: For less fat and fewer calories, use plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
- Chunky: Try using chunky peanut butter instead of plain for crunchy bread.
- No soda: If you do not have baking soda, you can use baking powder but triple the amount.
How to serve:
This banana bread is moist and sweet with a peanut butter layer in the middle. You can serve it with whatever you like or just eat it as it is. Here are some awesome serving ideas you can try. You can also share some of your ideas in the comments section.
- Spread a spoonful of honey or maple syrup on top of your bread to give it extra sweetness.
- Top each slice with a dollop of whipped cream for even more sweetness.
- Slice and make French toast with your buckeye banana bread for a special breakfast.
- Similarly, this is perfect for a holiday brunch alongside some sticky buns and donuts.
- You can also serve this bread as a dessert with frosting or glaze. Try this rich cream cheese frosting.
- Like any good sweet bread, it tastes amazing with a glass of ice-cold milk.
- Make this a scrumptious dessert by serving it with a scoop of ice cream. It would be perfect with our Oreo ice cream and you only need three ingredients!
Frequently asked questions
How do I make buckeye candy?
Making buckeye candy is easy. Just mix peanut butter with vanilla, powdered sugar, and butter. Then, using damp hands, roll the super sticky dough into balls and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 30 minutes. You may have to rinse your hands every couple balls. Then, melt and mix coconut oil and chocolate chips. Dip balls in chocolate and let them chill in the fridge before you eat.
Can I use a different flour for this recipe?
It would be fine to substitute all-purpose with something else like almond flour, but you should make an almond flour mixture of one part all-purpose to two parts almond. You could do a one-to-one ratio but then you may have to add another egg to bind it better. This is because almond flour is moister than regular flour.
How can I ripen my bananas quickly?
If you want to make this recipe today and your bananas are still yellow, you can bake them at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. You could also pop them in the microwave for a minute or two. Just be careful they do not burst. If you can wait a day or two, put them in a paper bag in a warm spot and they will ripen quickly.
Why is my bread falling apart?
The most common reason for crumbly banana bread is using too much flour. Even if you measured it, you could still be using too much. You have to spoon the flour into a measuring cup instead of scooping it. You may have also added too much liquid making the dough too moist. Be careful measuring every ingredient.
More banana bread recipes to try:
How to store leftovers:
- Store: You can store your leftover buckeye banana bread wrapped in plastic for several days at room temperature. Or, for longer storage, put it in an airtight container in the fridge for a week.
- Freeze: You could also freeze your buckeye banana bread for up to three months. Simply, wrap it in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and put it in a freezer bag.
- Thaw: Remember to put your frozen leftovers in the fridge to thaw overnight before serving.
- Reheat: No need to reheat. Banana bread is good cold or at room temperature. But you can zap it for a minute in the microwave if you want it warm.
Baking tips:
- You could also combine your batter in a food processor for faster and easier mixing.
- Make sure your cream cheese and eggs are at room temperature for the best results.
- If your bananas are not ripe enough, you can speed up the process by putting them in a brown bag. Or heat them in the oven or microwave if you need them today.
- Cooked perfectly, each slice will have a light peanut butter smile.
- Need some buckeye banana bread without using tree nuts? Believe it or not, there are quite a few nutless butter spreads on the market that taste like peanut butter.
- To make this vegan, use vegan butter, sour cream, chocolate, and cream cheese. You can even use flaxseed instead of eggs.
- Are you looking for more sweet bread recipes? We have lots of them on our food blog.
Buckeye Banana Bread
Ingredients
Peanut butter filling:
- 4 oz. cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate banana bread:
- 3 ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
- 4 oz. melted chocolate melted
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- Pinch kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper so the paper hangs on the two opposite larger sides, to easily lift the bread when done. Set aside.
Peanut butter filling:
- In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, peanut butter, egg, vanilla and both sugars. Using an electric hand mixer, beat until smooth. Refrigerate while making the banana bread batter.
Chocolate banana bread:
- In a large bowl using mash the bananas, and add melted butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
- Next, add sour cream and melted chocolate (cooled), and mix until fully incorporated.
- In a bowl stir together: flour, cocoa powder and baking soda.
- Stir in into wet ingredients until smooth and fully combined, do not overmix.
- Fold in the chocolate chips using a rubber spatula.
Bake:
- Add half of the chocolate banana bread batter to the prepared loaf pan in an even layer.
- Next, add the peanut butter layer on top and smooth it on top using an offset spatula.
- Top with the rest of the chocolate batter, distribute it evenly and smooth the top using an offset spatula.
- Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool 10 minutes in the pan, lift the bread from the pan and place it on a wire rack to cool 15 minutes.Slice and serve.
- Optional: Top the bread with a peanut butter glaze by mixing 2 tablespoons milk with 1 cup of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons melted peanut butter. Add a bit more water if needed and mix until smooth. Pour the glaze on top of a fully cooled bread.
Nutrition
