This is an awesome cake for those of you who love peanut butter and chocolate! Kind of like a Reeses peanut butter cup in a cake form.   

About the recipe

Do you have ripe bananas and are you low on sugar? Do you like peanut butter and chocolate? Give this recipe a try!

The inspiration for this cake was two fold – one, my daughter Rani loves peanut butter.  Two, I was running way low on sugar and was trying to figure out how to make something sweet with less sugar and this recipe fit that criteria perfectly .

This recipe only requires 1/4 cup of white sugar 😊.  The sweetness in this cake comes from 2 ripe bananas and an apple. Between the bananas and apple and all the peanut butter and chocolate chips, the cake is soft, moist and delicious. 

The only modification I made to the recipe from Averiecooks.com  is adding chocolate chips instead of the original 1 cup of butterscotch chips and peanut butter chips.  So how did Rani like the cake? She loved it!  The one comment she made is that the cake would taste great with a few walnuts next time!

Peanut Butter Apple Banana Cake
Peanut Butter Apple Banana Cake on Averiecooks.com

INGREDIENTS

•  1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large or 3 small bananas)
•  1 cup grated apples (about 2 small or 1 extra-large grated on the coarsest blade of a box grater; I used unpeeled gala apples)
•  1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
•  1/4 cup granulated sugar
•  1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
•  1/4 cup sour cream (lite is okay; or Greek yogurt may be substituted)
•  2 teaspoons vanilla extract
•  1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil (liquid-state coconut oil may be substituted)
•  1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•  1/2 teaspoon baking powder
•  1/2 teaspoon baking soda
•  1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
•  1 cup peanut butter chips (butterscotch chips or a mix-and-match combination of peanut butter and butterscotch chips may be used).  I used chocolate chips instead!

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350F. Spray one 9×5-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
• To a large bowl, add the the first seven ingredients, through vanilla, and whisk to combine.

• Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and fold with spatula or stir gently with a spoon until just combined; don’t overmix.

• Add the bananas, apples, and fold gently to combine.

• Add the peanut butter chips or chocolate chips and fold gently to combine.

• Turn batter out into the prepared pan , smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.

• Bake for about 60 to 65 minutes (I baked 63 minutes) or until the top is golden, the center is set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
• Allow bread to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

• Optionally, serve with or glaze with Peanut Butter, Honey Butter, Vanilla Bean Browned Butter Glaze, or Cream Cheese Glaze.

Cook’s Notes:

• Tip – Tent the pan with a sheet of foil draped loosely over it in the last 10 to 15 minutes of baking to prevent top and sides from becoming overly browned before center cooks through. Baking times will vary based on moisture content of bananas, apples, climate, and oven variances. Bake until done; watch your bread, not the clock and don’t worry if it takes longer to bake than the baking estimates provided.
• Bread will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
• Adapted from The Best Strawberry Bread and Zucchini Banana Bread.