October 19th
2006
Peanut butter and I go way back, we share some memorable history together. It all began with love on first sight, then we completely lost contact for a while, to finally put a happy ending to the story. So what had happened? Long story...
Seven years back - to the day! - I was attending a large trade fair in Munich. The company I worked for at the time was notorious famed for their excessive parties, yet I felt wiped out and not in the mood for a long night out. Who knew, that I was destined to fall in love with "my man", soul mate and best friend there? On the flip side, destiny got it all wrong and screwed up on the prior day: Just on the day before we met, Oliver had quit his job in Munich and signed a new contract with his old company in the States. Now all we had left were two weeks [in denial]. But hey, it's amazing, how much can happen within two weeks! We found out we had studied in the very same building for several years, knowing the same people and enjoying coffee in the same cafeteria! It was fast-forward from then on: I met his parents, he met mine, his parents met my parents, the second week he moved in with me... Ok, you get the picture. Head over heels. But the day of his departure came up quickly and we both didn't have a clue if a long distance relationship was going to work out. My phone bills reached astronomical heights and Deutsche Telekom shares went up. While we were planning my first visit, my parents surprised me with a ticket to Atlanta for the 23rd of December. Wow, my first trip to the US of A! I would spend a wonderful Christmas time with Oliver, imagine my happiness!
The pre-Christmas time flew by, uncountable plans were devised and before I knew it, I set foot on American soil and embraced my sweetheart. On the 24th he showed me around town and I insisted on trying all kinds of typical local food (sorry, grits I couldn't do). I do remember my first everything bagel with jalapeno spread, my first fried green tomatoes and a tasty Caesar’s salad. We did some groceries to survive the upcoming holidays and I had my very first peanut butter sandwich with grape jelly - skeptical at first, then self-indulgent blissfully happily munching one slice after another. Peanut butter, where were you hiding from me all those years? How could I have missed something so yummy all my life? Oliver had to literally pull me away from my new-found passion, letting me in on his secret plan for Christmas eve. He had booked a table at a classy restaurant in town, so I decided to not spoil my appetite and continue with peanut butter sandwiches the next day.
The evening was fantastic. A multi course dinner at an extraordinary place along the Chattahoochee River, which we left in utter happiness. Until I woke up in the middle of the night with an unbearable desire to run to the bathroom and rid my body of whatever needed to go. Oliver followed me shortly after and we spent our second night together with what felt like the worst case of food poisoning I experienced so far. Why? We never found out. Here is another minor detail: his apartment had only one bathroom...?! After that night I had come to realize a couple of points:
Throwing up à deux is anything but fun.
Every apartment needs two bathrooms.
Falling asleep in the bathroom saves time and way.
Barfing Coke is no fun, especially if it still has gas in it.
Peanut butter can give you the worst aftertaste EVER.
Oliver's kind neighbors saved our lives and supplied us with salted pretzels and black tea over the next two days, because we were not able to move, let alone leave the house. Just writing these lines gives me the shakes. The food poisoning only stayed for two days, my newly attained antipathy towards peanut butter was here to stay. No peanut sauce for chicken skewers, no peanut butter cookies, seriously a hint of peanut butter was all it took to make me back out. For almost 7 years now! But then, out of the blue, some weeks ago I felt the ultimate urge to buy a jar of peanut butter again. I was excited and could hardly wait to open the jar and eat it by the spoon. No idea where it came from and what triggered the change of mind, but I feel deeply relieved that it didn't turn into a lifelong aversion. All adventurous again, I'm discovering sweet recipes that work nicely with a subtle flavor of peanut butter. My beloved banana bread was a successful starting point, with a bit of tweaking. The flavorful bread gets better day by day, a new everyday favorite.
Whisk together in a large bowl the eggs, butter, peanut butter and sugar (all at room temperature), then fold in the squashed banana and a tablespoon of sunflower oil. Mix lightly.
In a separate bowl, combine milk and baking soda, in another, the flour with the baking powder.
Now add to the large bowl parts of the milk mixture alternating with parts of the flour mix, until everything is combined. This way you can quickly judge the consistency of the dough: add some more milk, if the batter is too firm, an extra tablespoon of flour, if too runny. Don't overdue the batter.
Pour the batter into a buttered and bread crumbs dusted or paper-lined muffin tins and bake at 180°C (350°F) in a preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of the cakes. Poke muffins with a wooden skewer to see if they are done - the skewer should come out quite dry and clean. Remove muffins from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes, then carefully turn the muffins out of the tin.
Dust with confectioner's sugar, once completely cooled down.
Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Recipe source: own creation
Prep time: 10min., baking: 25-45min., depending on size
.
Ingredients (yields one small cake, 17cm (6,5") in diameter and two muffin-sized ones):
75g butter
75g peanut butter
100g sugar
2 eggs
3 mid-sized mashed ripe bananas
1 tbsp sunflower oil
125 ml milk
1 tsp baking soda
250g flour
3 tsp baking powder
decoration: confectioner's sugar for dusting
Banana bread is something of a classic; involving peanuts in the mix can only make it better.
I'm one of those people who is pleased by the simplest of combinations, and this seems like one I would be happy with!
The bread looks amazing, and particularly tasty to a banana and peanut butter lover such as myself!
Sorry to hear about the experience with the peanut butter - a similar thing happened in Australia in the late 90's, a peanut butter manufacturer was taken to court as their product had given approx. 2500 people food poisoning :( Such a shame, as peanut butter is absolutely delicious!
What a lovely love story :) I enjoyed reading it...I love the way the peanut butter weaves in and out of the whole affair...ending, of course, with this delicious bread :)
The 3 mid size bananas would amount to around how may cups? We have tons of bananas (in all sizes) here so I'm not sure which ones to use...thanks!
I had the same thing with Marshmallow Peeps, actually, due to the onset of the flu on Easter weekend when I was five. I haven't been able to stomach anything marshmallow but the actual thing (no fluff, no cookies, no Peeps) since. Fortunately, I didn't hate carrots, which was also a casualty that weekend.
Your story is hilarious, I'm glad there is a happy ending to it. I had a similar experience with food poisoning, last year I developed a disgust for meat for several month. But now I'm back to normal, thank god!
I can't decide what to love more, your story or your photography. Food poisoning is horrible, my brother had to go to an emergency room some years ago. His wife, who ate the same lunch didn't have any problems though.
I love peanut butter (chunky and salty please) but banana bread and I don't get along, so this recipe will be neglected by me. But I loved reading your love story. I always say you can't marry a man of whom you don't know if he will hold your hair back (given you have at least a couple of cm of said) and put a cool hand on your forehead while you are throwing up. I guess on that night Oli didn't have the chance to prove this. But à deux comes close!
J'adore tes moules ! ils sont sublimes
Very nice story. I love peanut butter and banna bread.
What a wonderful story (minus the part about you two being so sick- you poor things!). My husband and I went through the long-distance thing for a year- he in Los Angeles, I in Tokyo. But we survived and are now living happily ever after! I love that you've reconnected with peanut butter...it is a wonderful thing, isn't it?
Oh, this sounds delicious! And a wonderful story, too :o)
Great story about life and food and everything inbetween! I used to make banana bread with whole nuts, so your recipe is a must try. Why haven't I thought about adding peanut butter myself? A culinary masterstroke!
What a great story, I love it! Your bread looks so yummy!
Bananenbrot konnte mich nie so richtig überzeugen, bis ich eine Variante mit gehackten Walnüssen probiert habe. Lecker! Erdnussbutter könnte also durchaus eine Alternative für mich sein.
fantastic story, but I think you are going to have to give grits another go. Truly. Shrimp and grits or really good cheese grits. If they are done, well, they are amazing.
Glad you overcame your peanut butter aversion... I love it on toast w/ some berry preserves for breakfast. Your mini banana breads are cute and probably very tasty!
I love your story! At least that is one long distance relationship that has finally worked out... gives me motivation for mine :) I'm not that big a lover for peanut butter though.. my skin just breaks out in rashes whenever i get close to anything peanut..:(
I try to use peanut butter with many dishes, add a little teaspoon to Asian dishes or sauteed vegetables, it adds some nice flavour. Every tried mixing nutella and peanut butter? Highly addictive!
What a fabulous story, and I'm so glad it has a happy ending! Peanut butter is such an amazingly versatile ingredient, and certainly deserved a second chance ;) I also loved learning how you met, and I can completely sympathize on the difficulties of maintaining a relationship across that long distance between Germany and the US. Somehow we managed for nearly six years...
Such a sweet love story!
The food poisoning was probably the dinner rather than the peanut butter. Usually happens v quickly.
I had the peanut butter urge thsi weekend and found JIF peanut butter in a store called Izräel in the Marais in Paris... but the small jar was a whopping EUR9! I couldn't bring myself to buy it (although the urge was big indeed!). Against my "religious" principles I guess. I'll just have to wait till I get over to the US to stock up with 10 huge jars of it...
[...] 19.10.06: Delicious Days versüßt den Tag mit Peanut Butter banana bread [...]
Abby, Sorry to say, no grits for me. I guess it was the texture that I didn't find very appealing. Let's see if I can convince myself to give it another try on our next trip to the States!?
Ellie, LPC,
We honestly don't have a clue what triggered the food poisoning and don't want to make false accusations. It could have just as much been the dinner ;)
Joey, I never weighed the mashed bananas with cups, so I can't provide reliable info. But I baked this recipe so many times, sometimes running short on bananas, sometimes I wanted to get rid of many already brown ones, so I can say this recipe is pretty forgiving - I used 2 small ones as well as 4 medium sized ones in the past. You can always balance the consistency of the batter by adding more or less milk in the end. Good luck!
Hande, Oliver was laughing out loud when he read your comment! That's what he keeps telling me - and he actually did hold my hair back a couple of times that night ;)
Tina, Nutella AND peanut butter - oh my goodness, I have to try it!
wow, this bread sounds so good - only a bit dangerous; I think this is something that I would love and devour really (too) fast...=)
enjoyed reading your lovely writing and the photo's are looking almost to good to be true - delicious!
I made these last weekend, increasing slightly the amount of peanut butter and banana - both because I wanted to enhance the flavours, and because I wanted a slightly moister texture than it looked as if your muffins achieved. They were just perfect, and have been doing great service all week, defrosted one at a time for 30 seconds in the microwave, then popped in the oven for 5 minutes to crisp up. Very light in texture, unlike many muffins. Next time I think I may add some more texture - a few chopped nuts perhaps?
Thank you.
That recipe sounds absolutely delicious. I love peanut butter and banana sandwiches, so it's no wonder it would sound appealing to me. I'm going to have to translate that into cups and spoons and give it a try.
oh my goodness! i just baked a batch of these and had to taste-test them before sending a couple extra-large muffins off with my dad on his weekend trip. they are delicious! i put in an extra banana and it still came out lovely. thank you!!
baked your muffins some days ago and wanted to thank you for the recipe. my family loved them!
I had bookmarked this recipe and finally got around to making it- oooh delicious! I posted some pics of the result on my blog:
http://spicyshoes.blogspot.com/2006/11/moi-has-been-in-kitchen-lately-babes_9562.html
Thank you!
Motivated to pick up the peanut butter again eh? Be careful, that's what I was craving in the earliest days of my pregnancy. Still, the creative cooking that would come out of it would probably be worth it. ;-) Just teasing. Nice to read your blog again after having left Munich myself last month.
[...] I love the way the makers of Delicious Days designed their food blog. They provide recipes and all sorts of tidbits about food in Munich. I particularly like the way they shot their photos and may adopt a similar pattern. [...]
Andrea, You got me scared for a minute - phew!
which restaurant in atlanta did you eat at? i'm under the impression atlanta does not have many amazing restaurants, so i'd be interested to hear if you found any! thanks
Hi Eva, I spent time in Atlanta in 1999 and 2000, it'd surprise me if the restaurant scene hadn't changed quite a bit since. Back then favorites included Canoe & Anis Bistro.
Today I made GRITS, (3 Tablespoons dry cooked with 3/4 cup water) and then added a tablespoon of PEANUT BUTTER to it. YUM! I think even if you dislike grits you may love this!
Hi Judy Blue Eyes, Well, peanut butter surely makes grits sound a little less horrible to me, however, I'm not quite sure, if it's enough though to try again ;)
Hi Nicky. Ok, well here's one you WILL like. I'm trying to cure myself of this habit but I'm addicted: peanut butter and honey warmed in the microwave, then mix in some chocolate chips. Cheers.
Judy Blue Eyes, Sounds intriguing but it is doomed a priori to not happen any time soon - I simply don't own a micro wave :) Perhaps the oven will do...
could someone tell me the recipe in cups please how do i convert the measurements
IM just wondering if anyone who has translated the ingredeints into cups and spoons would be kind enough to post the measurment? I haven't brushed up on that sory of math in quite a while! It sounds delious! ( I cannot wait to try it!)
i want easier ingredeints and you got it
Delicious! I would be interested to see the "pre-tweaking" recipe, as I have my own love-hate relationship with peanut butter...
For those who asked, here's a (rough) conversion to volume measures:
1/3 cup butter
5 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 mid-sized mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
I baked 3/4 of the recipe in a 4.5"x8.5" pan - the whole thing will probably fit just right in a 5"x9".
Thanks!
What a great story! I've been adding peanut butter to things for years... take this recipe and add a few chocolate chips. WOW! And I'm so glad to hear that your long distance relationship worked out, being that I'm currently in one myself. Thanks for the recipe.
Hello, I loved reading your tale ;] Nice to hear all worked out in the end for you, however- being a hardcore peanut butter lover myself. But there's always a way to get a fix...Have you tried making this with different nut butters?
(I'm currently spraying crumbs on my keyboard eating a purely nutella version which kind of detracts from your story but is really delicious anyhow! Thanks for this!)
This bread looks absolutely DELICIOUS! As everything else you cook. I was searching for a recipe that included bananas and I loved this bread!Saving the recipe for sure. Thanks for another great recipe
This site was amazing, so much help! Thank you Thank you Thank you I cant say it enough, neither can my family. (giggles) I look forward to reading more and more and more! Thanks Again, Younge Breezie!
I went in search of a recipe for banana bread and found this one. Usually, I just throw the over-ripe bananas out, but this time wanted to use them. This is a great recipe. I messed up in the order of adding the ingredients and even though the butter was lumpy instead of creamed (perhaps because of using a much too cold bowl) it turned out well! I made a 4.5x8.5 loaf (1/2 illed with batter because I didn't know how full I was supposed to fill it) and 12 muffins. The kids thought the bread was great! Could the recipe be altered to add more PB? LOL
Thanks again for sharing! Definately will make use of those over-ripe bananas next time.
I have never thought to bake banana bread in anything but a bread pan! I love your shapes and will try this the next time I make banana bread (which is at least twice a month... I really do have the best intentions to eat bananas before they rot).
I just baked banana bread with pineapple and curry, it smells wonderful. I think the peanut butter would be yummy with curry too.
It's so funny to hear peanut butter talked about that way! I eat it in the middle of the night with a spoon all the time. And no grits? Why? I made a Southern Grits casserole for supper tonight. They're my favorite "breakfast" food ever.