Treat yourself to a healthier dessert or snack with this Marbled Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread. Scroll down for step-by-step illustrated instructions and answers to your most common questions.

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This recipe was originally published on July 13, 2019. It was updated on July 12, 2020.

A few weeks ago, this Marbled Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread was exactly what I needed to recover from a busy week.

After a busy few days in the salon and a handful of interviews for a business networking group, on top of blog posting, my training schedule, and taking care of the dogs, I was spent.

The uncertainty of how I am going to continue growing the blog and the hair studio was wearing me down more than usual, so I decided I needed to disconnect and unwind for a day. To reconnect with myself so I would know that everything would be okay, regardless of what happens.

So, after leaving at 6 AM for a 10-mile hike in a more remote area of Rocky Mountain National Park, enjoying a relaxing brunch at Bird & Jim in Estes Park, and making a surprisingly pleasurable drive home through a rainstorm, I decided that baking (and a mini “The Office” marathon!) would wrap up my day.

There’s something about the predictability of baking — maybe even more so than the result it creates — that is therapeutic when the rest of life is uncertain. Something about the A+B+C=D that helps my mind relax and know, that even if just for a few hours, life will have some certainty to it.

5 Reasons to Make This Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Bread:

It’s….

• Tender & chocolaty
• A healthier banana bread option
• Perfect for snacks, dessert, or even an occasional breakfast
• Freezes well
• A perfect gift

Whether you make it for yourself, a friend or your new neighbor, this bread is sure to please. It’s lower in sugar and butter than your average marble bread recipes, but is just as big on flavor. Make this bread today!

How to Make This Marbled Banana Bread:

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Liberally spray a loaf baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl, add the peanut butter, butter, and sugars. Cream on medium to high speed for 1.5-2 minutes, or until the mixture is light and creamy and the sugars are fully mixed into the butters.

Step 2:

Add in two eggs and vanilla and mix them into the creamed mixture. Scrape down the sides.

Step 3:

Add the bananas straight to the mixer — there’s no need to mash them ahead of time — and run on slow to medium speed until all the bananas are broken up and there aren’t any large chunks left. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Step 4:

Mix the flour ingredients in a small bowl and then add to the creamy banana mixture. Mix in on the lowest speed (to prevent the flour from flying everywhere!) until there are no streaks of flour left. Don’t overmix it and scrape the sides of the bowl down again when finished.

Step 5:

Separate about half of the batter out into a smaller bowl and mix in the cocoa powder until it’s completely stirred into the batter.

Not pictured: melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips in a small microwave safe mixing bowl for 1.5-2 minutes on low heat in the microwave, stirring the chips every 30 seconds, or until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Mix the chocolate into the cocoa batter as well.

Step 6:

Layer in the batter into the greased pan, alternating about 3/4 cups of the regular batter and 3/4 cups of the chocolate batter. Slightly offset the batter so it isn’t just uniform layers of batter sitting on top of each other. This will help with the marbling!

Here’s what mine looked like:

Step 7:

Run a knife through the batter from side to side in a snaking motion, about 4-5 times across overall.

Step 8:

Sprinkle the bread with chocolate chips and bake in the preheated oven for 60-65 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

A Quick Q & A on Peanut Butter Banana Bread Recipes:

How long does chocolate peanut butter banana bread last?

It should last in an airtight container like a gallon Ziploc bag for 3-5 days in the refrigerator and up to 2 months in the freezer. Just make sure to slice the bread before popping it in the freezer and to use a freezer Ziploc bag.

How ripe should bananas be for bread?

They need to have a good deal of black/brown spots. This means the bananas are ripe and riper the bananas are the better flavor your bread will have.

Just make sure the bananas haven’t split at all — that means they’re fermenting and we don’t want to use fermenting bananas in our bread. 🙂

Below is a picture of the absolute minimum amount of browning I’ll look for on a banana for baking.

What tools you will need for this nutty banana bread:

• A stand mixer or hand mixer
• Small mixing bowl
• Large mixing bowl (if using a hand mixer)
• Measuring spoons
• 2 rubber scrapers
• A butter knife
• Loaf-sized baking pan
• A food scale (optional, but highly encouraged)

Other healthy dessert and baking recipes you might like:

• Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread
• 3 Ingredient Healthy Yogurt Popsicles
• Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Protein Breakfast Cookies
• Coconut Quinoa Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Classic Coffee Cake (Two Ways!)
• Healthy No-Bake Oatmeal Chocolate Bars
• Whole Wheat Naan Bread

If you make and like this recipe, please rate it by clicking on the 5-stars at the top of the recipe card. This helps other people to find the recipes and helps me out, too!

Thank you so much for your feedback and support of Mae’s Menu!

Yield: 12

Marbled Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Tender swirls of peanut butter banana and chocolate peanut butter banana bread bake up for a great snack, dessert, or breakfast. For an illustration of the steps, refer back to the post.

Print

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temp
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs (preferably at room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 large (or 2 cups) overripe bananas
• 2 1/4 cup (or 270 g) white whole wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, DIVIDED

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 (365 degrees if at high altitude) degrees and spray your 8 x 4-inch loan pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Cream the peanut butter, butter, and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl (if using a hand mixer). Blend until the mixer is a light creamy color and sugar is starting to dissolve in. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
3. Add 2 eggs and vanilla to the creamed mixture and mix on medium-low until the eggs are mixed in, about 30-45 seconds, scraping down the sides with a rubber scraper halfway through. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula halfway through mixing if the butter mixture is sticking to the sides of the bowl.
4. Add the three bananas to the bowl next. There's no need to mash them ahead of time. Run the stand mixer on low to medium-low to start and blend in the bananas until they are no longer in chunks, or about 1- 1.5 minutes. You can increase the speed as the bananas break down. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula.
5. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, & baking powder in a small mixing bowl and whisk together lightly with a fork. Add the flour mixture to the creamed banana mixture and mix in on low until there are no streaks of flour left, but no further (this will keep the bread tender).
6. Scoop half of the batter into the small bowl you used for the flour. Add the cocoa powder and stir the flour in with a rubber scraper, or until it's all absorbed and evenly distributed.
7. In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips on 20-30% heat for 1.5-2 minutes, mixing the chips every 30 seconds, or until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Stir the chocolate into the cocoa powder batter.
8. Layer in the two batters by the 3/4 cup fulls, alternating them and spreading them in unevenly.
9. Gently tap the pan on the counter once or twice to settle the batter in the pan and then run a butter knife through the batter, snaking it from one end of the pan to the other about 4-5 times.
10. Sprinkle the batter with the remaining chocolate chips and bake for 60-65 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out without any streaks of batter on it.

Notes

1. This bread will keep in an airtight Ziploc bag for 3-5 days in the refrigerator or up to 2 months in the freezer. Just use a freezer safe bag and slice the bread before freezing.

2. Use a kitchen scale to weigh the flour for the most accurate results. They're super affordable on Amazon and 100% worth it. It's totally changed my baking game. Otherwise, make sure to scoop the flour into measuring cups, instead of scooping the measuring cup directly into the flour when measuring.

Nutrition Information

Yield

12

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 314Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 41mgSodium 257mgCarbohydrates 45gFiber 5gSugar 22gProtein 7g

This nutrition breakdown is just an estimate of the nutritional value of this recipe and cannot be taken as facts. The owners of Mae's Menu are not nutritionists or dieticians and therefore cannot be held accountable for this nutrition estimate. Please contact your nutritionist or medical professional for a nutritional breakdown of this food. Furthermore, this food is not intended to prevent, diagnose, cure, or treat any disease.