Peanut Butter Banana Bread

By Sarah On October 28, 2014 | Updated: October 9, 2025

Swirls of creamy peanut butter and bananas collide dreamily in this super-soft peanut butter banana bread.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Peanut butter has officially met banana bread and all is right in the world.

This bread is basically all kinds of banana bread heaven. Perfectly soft and melt-in-your mouth. Loaded with luscious swirls of pb and heck, if you want you could even sneak some chocolate chips in there.

This recipe follows my banana bread base that I’ve been using for years. It’s tried and true with the most incredible soft interior and we’re bumping things way up a notch with the addition of altogether way too much peanut butter.

And by way too much I mean the perfect amount.

This Banana Bread features…

A soft and moist interior
Rich swirls of creamy peanut butter
Minutes to make with only a handful of simple ingredients

Making the Banana Bread

(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

Bananas
Vegetable oil
Peanut butter
Brown sugar
Granulated sugar
Eggs
Vanilla extract
All-purpose flour
Baking soda
Salt

Tips for Perfect Banana Bread

Mash bananas well – use a potato masher or a fork to finely mash bananas until only a few very small chunks remain.
Mix half of peanut butter in batter – save the other half for swirling on top once the batter is in the pan.
Spoon and level flour – I use the spoon-and-level technique for measuring flour as this will prevent over-measuring your flour. Use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife.
Gently fold batter – overmixing will lead to a dry bread so use a gentle hand when folding batter.
Use a toothpick to test bread – insert a toothpick in the center of bread. The bread is done when toothpick comes out clean.
Cool bread completely before cutting – don’t be tempted to cut into the bread while it’s still warm. Allowing the bread to cool will strengthen its structure and make for neat slices.

Recipe Variations

(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)

Use another nut butter – try cashew butter or almond butter in place of the peanut butter.
Add chocolate chips – fold 3/4 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips into batter.
Add nuts – fold 3/4 cup toasted chopped pecans or walnuts into batter.
Top bread with a glaze – allow bread to cool completely then top with a powdered sugar glaze, caramel sauce, or melted white chocolate.

Storing and Freezing Bread

Allow bread to cool completely, then store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days. For best results, I recommend reheating individual slices before serving 10-20 seconds in microwave.

To freeze bread, allow to cool completely, then wrap well and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw bread completely at room temperature and store up to 4 days.

Peanut butter lovers, this is your new form of heaven! One bite of this luscious bread and you will never want another banana bread in your life again, period.

The only way you could possibly improve things here is to slather a thick slice with extra PB. YES!

Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on with #wholeandheavenlyoven.

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