Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread

I'm not going to call this healthy, because it's not. There are plenty of refined carbohydrates in here, so don't worry about having to share with your low-carbing friends.

I did sneak in a few ingredients to make it slightly more nutritionally sound than your typical quick bread though. It's my way of keeping my friends and family around slightly longer in order to stuff them with more future goodies!

You'd never know that some of the ingredients had been switched up though. If anything, I think it improved upon the classic! It all started when I decided I wanted to make peanut butter banana bread. I figured I'd try replacing the butter in the batter with some peanut butter to incorporate that flavor. Along the way I decided I'd add some whole wheat flour for it's richer, nutty flavor and when I discovered I had no sour cream, I just replaced it with some low fat greek yogurt. To my delight it all came together beautifully into a flavorful, moist banana bread with a tasty twist.

It is wonderful just on it's own as a sweet treat, but it only improves with a schmear of nutella and a nice, cold glass of milk. Mmm!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread

Makes 1 Loaf

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup smooth, natural peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed banana
1/3 cup low fat greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a loaf pan (8 1/2 x 4 1/2 in).

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside. In another large bowl, cream together the peanut butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well combined. Mix in the mashed banana, yogurt and vanilla until smooth. On low speed, mix in the flour mixture just until combined and moist.

3. Melt 1/2 cup chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave until smooth and allow to cool slightly. Add half the prepared batter and the remaining chocolate chips to the melted chocolate and stir until well combined. Spoon the plain batter and the chocolate batter alternately into the prepared loaf pan and swirl together using a butter knife. Bake for 1hr - 1hr 15 min, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it.

4. Cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove from the pan and finish cooling on the wire rack. Enjoy!

Pssst... I spy a doggie creepin' up on my photo shoot!