There’s no wrong way to combine peanut butter, chocolate, and bananas.
Maybe one day I’ll run out of ways and ideas, but thankfully that hasn’t happened.
I love baking with bananas because everything turns out so soft and fluffy.
This easy, one-bowl, no-mixer cake is another example of how bananas are such workhorses.
I loathe dry cake and in addition to juicy bananas, there’s a single-serving container of banana Greek yogurt, a bit of oil, and peanut butter. They all help keep this cake moist, bouncy, and springy.
I used banana yogurt, which helps to boost the banana flavor profile. I’m traveling even found it in an Aruban grocery store, but if you can’t find it, vanilla or plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream) will work.
The cake has a nice banana flavor, but the peanut butter flavor also shines. There’s one-half cup of peanut butter in the cake batter, and before baking, one-quarter cup is swirled in on top.
When you’re swirling, easy does it because the peanut butter seeps down while the cake bakes and if you over-do it before baking, you’ll never see the swirls after the cake comes out of the oven.
As it is, it’s hard enough to see the peanut butter because of the chocolate chunks on top. Chocolate is a perfect pairing with peanut butter and with banana. Okay, with anything.
I just sprinkled the chunks on top of the cake because I’m not that fond of chocolate chips or chunks inside cake. I like cake interiors buttery soft and smooth, but you could stir in a handful of chocolate chunks to the batter before turning it out into the pan.
I wanted to keep the cake more along the lines of a coffee cake than an uber-decadent cake, but feel free to get more gung-ho with the chocolate.
You’ll rarely go wrong with more chocolate.
By design, you don’t need to frost this cake. I made sure there’s enough going on between the sweet banana cake base, the peanut butter swirls and rich dark chocolate on top, that no frosting or glaze is necessary, for either taste or cosmetic purposes.
It’s always a nice bonus and time-saver when you don’t have to frost a cake.
Maybe it’s because she got to eat cake for breakfast, but my 6-year old daughter gave it a 10/10. I told her that if she thought it was a 7, that would be fine, too.
And she said, It’s a 10, mom. Okay, I’ll take it.
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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Banana Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons canola, vegetable, or melted coconut oil
- 1 large egg
- 5 to 6 ounces banana
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup mashed banana, about 2 medium, ripe bananas
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- ¼ creamy peanut butter, for swirling on top
- about 4 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped (semi-sweet chocolate chips may be substituted)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8×8-inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large, microwave-safe mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup peanut butter, oil, and heat on high power for about 30 seconds, just long enough to nicely soften peanut butter so it can be whisked together easily with the oil. Whisk until smooth and combined.
- Add the egg, yogurt, sugar, vanilla, and whisk until smooth.
- Add the mashed banana and stir to combine; batter will be lumpy because of the bananas.
- Add the flour, baking powder, optional salt, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula; set aside.
- To a mixing bowl (the same one used for the cake batter is fine, no need to wash it provided you scraped it fairly well with a spatula) add 1/4 cup peanut butter and heat on high power to melt it, about 30 seconds.
- Drizzle peanut butter over cake and lightly swirl it in with a knife, going up and back in a zigzag pattern. Don’t get too carried away with swirling or peanut butter will sink into the cake while baking and won’t be visible.
- Evenly sprinkle the chocolate over the pan.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, or until done. The top will be domed and golden, the center set, and a toothpick inserted should come out mostly clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. At any point if your cake is getting a bit too golden or dark before the center is setting, tent with foil (lay a sheet of foil over the top of your cake; I didn’t need to, but ovens and ingredients vary). Baking times could vary from 25 to 40 minutes based on water content of the bananas, yogurt, climate, and oven variances; bake until done. Watch your cake, not the clock.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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In college I lived on peanut butter, chocolate and bananas. This cake makes me nostalgic and happy! :)
Thanks averie ..I actually had to toss the entire cake out..not sure if the sour cream substitute is where it went wrong ..but it ended up in the trash..my biggest upset was I used three dark chocolate dove bars for the topping ..
I honestly don’t think it was the sour cream. I think you just needed to bake it longer. It’s sort of a hybrid of this cake https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/08/browned-butter-glaze-soaked-greek-yogurt-banana-cake.html, this cake https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/05/peanut-butter-honey-buttermilk-cake-with-chocolate-peanut-butter-streusel.html, a cake I have in my cookbook, and most any peanut butter-banana bread that’s baked as a cake rather than in a loaf pan. When working with PB, bananas, yogurt/sour cream – all these very wet and moisturizing ingredients, based on brands, climates, ovens, etc. there can be some pretty big swings in baking times so I honestly think another 10 to 15 mins or so would have helped. Sorry you lost the chocolate bars!
Thanks averie ..i still love your blog ..I’ll try again !
not sure what i did wrong ..but i followed this recipe exactly ..and it has been cooking for almost 50 minutes and the insdie is not cooked at all ..very diappointed ..i did used sourcream as the acceptable substitute …i hate baking things when they dont come out right !!
I always write this in my recipes…”, or bake until done. Watch your cake, not the clock.” I think that you just have a cooler oven, very juicy bananas, maybe your yogurt was runnier, who knows. I really wouldn’t worry about the time on the clock. Bake the cake until it’s cooked through in the center, however long that takes. If the edges are getting darker, as I stated in the post, tent with foil. Banana-based recipes can vary widely in terms on how long they take to bake.
Iv also found big difference with glass vs metal pans !
Yum, this looks so delicious and moist! I love the idea to use banana yogurt :)
Oh my gosh girl… I’m totally obsessing over this cake right now! So up my alley ;)
Wishing you a Happy New Year, too! xo
Right back at you, Ashley! xo
This cake looks fab, love the PB + banana combo and those chocolate chunks are calling my name!
Is it custard-y or do you just make everything soooo moist?
No it’s not custardy at all. It’s very moist and the pictures were taken in my un-airconditioned living room in Aruba, so it was about 90F when I took these, so everything is very soft here.
This looks soooo amazing… about perfect, really! I can’t wait to try it.
Happy holidays, Averie! xo
Thanks, Tamara! Happy Holidays to you too!
So delicious!!! Thanks again for sharing.
pb chocolate and bananas have always been and will always be awesome. LOVING this cake!
Banana and chocolate, what can be better for a person that adores pies and cakes? Is it possible to add some more fruits in this recipe or bananas only are the best choice?
You could add other fruits if you wanted to I guess but I love the flavors (and results) of what I did, so didn’t tinker with it.
Looks gorgeous! Do you think the batter would work for muffins?
Yes it probably would but you’d have to play around with baking times. LMK how it goes!
Bananas, peanut butter and chocolate is a combo that will NEVER fail. Just never and you know that better than anyone! I just love your BP+C combos and this one looks off the charts. PLus, six year olds never lie. They always tell it the way it is, so I am positive this is perfect! :)
Being on vacay, I have to make stuff that I can buy in the local stores, I know will turn out, and that’s not complicated! So, here was another combination of PB + C!
And you more than anyone know that little kids tell it like it is!
Aruba?? I was there for Christmas 2 years ago. It was an awesome way to spend Christmas! Have fun!
Thanks! I’ve had my house here for 10 years and come every Dec and Aug for a month. My daughter loves it and so do I :) That’s wonderful you were here over Xmas 2 yrs ago – me too :)
I could use a slice of this right now!! I am working late tonight and seriously hungry ;)
Working late is my middle name. Normally I step away from my desk by 3am :) Wish I was kidding! And thus, snack cakes come in real handy!
Banana + PB + chocolate = the trifecta of awesomeness. I love adding banana to pretty much everything too, it makes it SO good and soft. Your daughter is smart! :)
We’re the banana queens. If some people didn’t dislike it so much, I’d bake it into like 90% of my recipes :)
I so want this for breakfasts over the holidays!
Thanks, Kevin! I’ve been pinning lots of your dips and appetizers to my app board lately and I seriously want one of each over the holidays :)