This Reese’s Peanut Butter Banana Bread recipe has all the features of your favorite banana bread–it’s fluffy, moist, and infused with sweet banana flavor. But when you add chocolate and peanut butter candy to the mix, you’ve transformed one easy-to-make staple into an irresistible treat.
Classic Banana Bread with A Reese’s Peanut Butter Makeover
Banana bread is one of those classic comfort food recipes that fills my entire house with heavenly scents and warmth.
It’s my go-to recipe when I have bananas that are way past their prime and begging to be baked into a loaf.
With a super moist texture, buttery banana flavor and incredibly soft feel, this banana bread is bursting with a sweet and deliciously dangerous combination of peanut butter and chocolate that is mixed into the batter.
And the best part, if you love peanut butter and chocolate as much as I do, is that this banana bread is packed with chopped Reese’s Cups and then topped with some more. It’s a recipe that simply crushes any competition!
Love Bananas? Check out our Banana Cream Pie Cheesecake Bars
Why We Love This Reese’s Peanut Butter Banana Bread
- Easy to prep
- Homemade treat baked with simple ingredients
- Moist, indulgent, and bursting with flavor
- Natural moisture from ripe bananas
- Perfect for breakfast, snack, or dessert
- Packed with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
- Delicious served warm from the oven or at room temperature
Ingredients / Shopping List
- Granulated sugar
- Unsalted butter: for a softer texture, make sure butter is room temperature
- Eggs: provides stability and structure as well as a tender texture
- Bananas: ripe bananas are the key to the moisture
- Whole milk: creates a rich and velvety texture. Whole milk makes a softer crust that will quickly brown due to the sugar and butterfat.
- Vanilla extract: enhances the flavor of the other ingredients in the recipe
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda: a leavening agent for baked goods
- Baking powder: increases the volume and lightens the texture
- Kosher salt: provides a balance to the sweetness
- Reese’s cups: adds the chocolatey peanut butter flavor
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How to Make the Recipe
This Reese’s Peanut Butter Banana Bread is really easy to prep. The hardest part is the wait! With a kitchen filled with heavenly banana scents, you can almost taste the delicious flavors as it bakes in the oven.
Begin by cutting 22 of your mini Reese’s cups into quarters and placing them in a small bowl with 1 tablespoon of flour. Gently toss the candy with flour to coat the pieces. Cut the remaining 6 mini Reese’s cups in halfand set them aside in another small bowl.
Pro-Tip: To make it easier to cut the mini Reese’s candies, unwrap them and place them into the freezer for 15 minutes. When they are cold, they are much easier to cut. Also, be sure to use a sharp or serrated knife.
Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a handheld mixer. Add the eggs, banana, and vanilla extract to the large bowl and mix until combined.
Pro-Tip: For the best banana flavor, use very ripe bananas. (see FAQ for more details).
Add the flour mixture from the medium-sized bowl and milk to the butter mixture in the large bowl in alternating steps, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix on low speed.
Pro-Tip: Be careful not to over mix your batter.
Gently fold the quartered mini Reese’s cups into the batter using a spatula.
Evenly spread the batter into a sprayed 9×5 loaf pan. Place the remaining halved mini Reese’s candies onto the top of the batter.
Pro-Tip: For presentation purposes, you will want to arrange them nicely.
Bake the banana bread, checking after 45 minutes to make sure it is not getting too brown. You can lightly tent the pan with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning. Your banana bread is done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 30 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack and then continue to cool for another hour. Once your Reese’s Peanut Butter Banana Bread is completely cool, slice and enjoy.
Variations / Options / Add-In’s
- Nuts: For extra nutrition, you can add ¾ cup of chopped nuts to the banana bread batter. I like using pecans or walnuts because they have a sweet and toasty crunchiness.
- Mix-Ins: In addition to nuts, you can toss in chocolate chips, raisins, chopped dried fruit, or banana slices to the batter.
- Spices: You can add a single spice or blend a few together. Some ideas include ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and cardamom.
- Egg Alternatives: Yogurt, sour cream, flax eggs, applesauce, or commercial egg replacer can be used to meet your dietary needs. (Please note: this may impact the outcome of the bread)
- Flour: You can swap up to half the flour for whole wheat or another favorite whole-grain flour. (Please note: this may impact the outcome of the bread)
- Sugar: You can use brown sugar instead of white, which makes a denser, moister bread (Please note: this may impact the outcome of the bread)
Tips
- This bread can be frozen for longer storage. Slice it into 12 (¾ inch) slices, then wrap the entire loaf well with plastic wrap. Place the plastic-wrapped loaf in a gallon-sized freezer-safe bag. This allows you to remove individual slices when you want to enjoy them.
- To make the very best banana bread that comes out super moist, it is important to start out with overripe bananas. They should be a dark yellow with lots of browning. The riper the bananas, the more moist your bread will be and the more banana flavor it will have!
Frequently Asked Questions
The best bananas for baking banana bread are not yellow. They should be at least 80% brown and very soft. When bananas are still a green/bright yellow color, their sugars have not developed enough, and that delicious banana flavor does not shine through in your bread.
The best way to keep banana bread moist for days is to wrap it tightly! Once your bread is baked and cooled, I recommend wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap. I also like to take a second step and store it in a large zip top freezer bag or a plastic container with a tight fitting lid. Stored this way on the counter, your bread will last up to 3 days.
Generally there is no need to refrigerate the Banana Bread as long as you can keep it in an airtight container in a cool place. If you’d like, you can store it wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 6 days.
Yes! If you choose to freeze your banana bread, allow it to cool completely at room temperature on a plate or wire rack once it comes out of the oven. Once cool, wrap the bread in plastic wrap, then wrap it in foil. You can freeze the bread for up to 2 months.
To thaw the bread, remove it from the freezer and allow it to come to room temperature, covered on the counter. This will take about 24 hours.
If you don’t have a loaf pan, you can prepare this same recipe to make 8 to 10 banana muffins. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and fill each cup to roughly 3/4 full. Check for doneness after 20 minutes.
Other Delicious Peanut Butter Recipes
Chocolate Peanut Butter Lasagna | No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars | Disneyland Peanut Butter Sandwich Bars | Peanut Butter Cup Brownies | Peanut Butter Truffles | Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Pie | Reese’s Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Reese’s Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 cup bananas mashed (about 3 medium-sized bananas)
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2½ cups + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour divided
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 28 mini Reese’s cups divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×5 loaf pan with baking spray. Set aside.
- Remove the wrappers of your mini Reese’s cups and cut 22 of them into quarters, and place them into a small bowl with 1 tablespoon of flour. Gently toss them to coat them with the flour. Cut the remaining 6 in half and set them aside in another small bowl to top your bread before baking.
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together, with a handheld mixer on medium speed, your butter and sugar. Add your eggs, banana and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
- Add your flour mixture and your milk to your butter mixture alternately. Starting and ending with your flour mixture. Mix on low speed, being careful not to over mix your batter.
- Using a spatula, gently fold your quartered mini Reese’s cups into your batter.
- Evenly spread your batter into your prepared loaf pan. Gently place your remaining mini Reese’s candies that were cut into halves onto the top of your batter. You will want to arrange them nicely for presentation purposes.
- Bake your bread for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. You will want to check your bread at 45 minutes, and if it is getting too brown, you can lightly tent it with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning.
- Remove your bread from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 30 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to continue to cool for another hour. Make sure your Reese’s Peanut Butter Banana Bread is completely cool before slicing.
Jenn’s Notes
To thaw the bread, remove it from the freezer and allow it to come to room temperature, covered on the counter. This will take about 24 hours. Important Notes:
- This bread can be frozen for longer storage. Slice it into 12 (¾ inch) slices, then wrap the entire loaf well with plastic wrap. Place the plastic-wrapped loaf in a gallon-sized freezer-safe bag. This allows you to remove individual slices when you want to enjoy them.
- To make the very best banana bread that comes out super moist, it is important to start out with overripe bananas. They should be a dark yellow with lots of browning. The riper the bananas, the more moist your bread will be and the more banana flavor it will have!
It doesn’t tell you how much of everything in the ingredients??
Hi Amber – Keep scrolling down to the recipe card, or click on “jump to recipe” at the top of the page. All of the ingredients and amounts are there as well as step-by-step instructions.
Omg This recipe was awesome.
So very moist.
It will not last very long in our house.
💚💚💚💚
Just made for first time.
Started it at 8:30 pm lol
Was a bit late starting since reading and realized baking for an hour, then pan cool for 30 minutes and then plate cool for another hour.
Needless to say, we’re going to try it for breakfast.
Wrapped in cyran wrap and put in airtight container.
Can’t wait to try.
Hello,
I made this a second time, adding some oatmeal in place of some of the flour. Soooooo good either way. Thanks for sharing this recipe.