This Peanut Butter Bread recipe carries a rich history and calls for few ingredients and simple instructions, yielding a delightful loaf in about 1 hour. This bread has a moist crumb, intense peanut butter flavor and a delightful crunch.
This quick bread originated during the Great Depression Era in the U.S., to cater to home cooks facing limited access to fresh ingredients.
The recipe re-emerged during the Covid lockdown when many home bakers like me were on a baking storm. This 1932 recipe went viral on Reddit, so I had to try it.
I made a few tweaks to enhance the recipe further.
Table of Contents
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Make this amazing loaf with only a few pantry staples in an hour.
- This bread is even better the next day, as the flavor of the peanut butter is more pronounced.
- This peanut butter loaf is packed with peanut butter flavor just like my 2-Ingredient Peanut Butter Fudge, Peanut Butter Cookies and Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies.
Quick Breads VS. Traditional Breads
Quick breads are a hybrid of pound cake and traditional bread, with a texture and moistness akin to pound cake while retaining the shape of bread like this Brownie Bread, Banana Bread Without Baking Soda, 4 Ingredient Banana Bread, Lemon Zucchini Bread or this all time favorite Starbucks Lemon Loaf.
- Yeast VS. Leavening Agents: Traditional breads rely on yeast and fermentation for rising, requiring proofing time, while quick breads use chemical leavening agents like baking powder or baking soda for immediate lift during baking.
- Dough VS. Batter: Breads are made with dough that require kneading, while quick breads use a batter that can be quickly mixed without extensive kneading or rising time, differing significantly in consistency.
- Texture: Quick breads, with their quick mixing and leavening agents, result in a softer, more cake-like texture with a more open crumb. Breads have a denser, chewier texture with a tighter crumb due to gluten development and longer fermentation.
Ingredients
- Peanut butter (chunky) is the hero of this recipe. Use full fat peanut butter for a moist and light crumb, and perfect results.
- All-purpose flour provides structure to this quick bread.
- Peanuts to sprinkle on the bread.
- Sour cream adds moistness to the bread. Use full fat sour cream for best results.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- Use creamy peanut butter in place of chunky one, depending on your choice.
- Want a chocolate punch in the bread? Add ½ cup of chocolate chips to the batter.
- For crunchy bites, add ½ cup walnuts or pecans in the batter to make the bread crunchier with nuts.
- Make this bread with bananas. Simply add 2 mashed medium-sized ripe bananas in the mixture and you will get a banana peanut butter bread.
- Add ½ cup of raisins in the batter if you are a fan of raisins.
This recipe hasn't been tested with alternative substitutions or variations. If you choose to replace or include different ingredients, we'd love to hear about your experience. Please share your feedback in the comments section below!
Baking Pro Tips
1. Unless a recipe says otherwise, always use room-temperature ingredients. This helps them mix together smoothly and evenly, for perfect results every time.
2. Ditch the measuring cups and grab your digital scale. Weighing dry ingredients in grams ensures perfect accuracy and consistent results.
How to Make Peanut Butter Bread
Detailed Instructions Below! See the key steps here, then head to the recipe card below for full instructions.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together.
2. Using an electric beater beat together butter and peanut butter until creamy.
3. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat again.
4. Add in the sour cream.
5. Beat until the mixture is creamy.
6. Add the dry ingredients and gently mix.
7. Pour the batter into the greased pan. Know that the batter will be thick. Sprinkle peanuts and press them using a spatula.
8. Bake at 350 F for about 50 - 55 minutes until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Expert Tips
- Thick Batter: The batter for this bread may appear thick, but there's no need to worry. Once baked, it will yield perfect results, so trust the process and enjoy the delicious outcome.
- Prevent excessive browning during baking. To prevent excessive browning while baking, closely monitor the oven temperature. Around 40 minutes, check bread color, if top is getting too dark, loosely cover with foil. Avoid tight wrapping to prevent foil from sticking to bread surface.
Recipe FAQs
Using a heavy-duty blender for making peanut butter bread is indeed a convenient and efficient method. With a heavy-duty blender, preparing the bread batter becomes a hassle-free process, ensuring smooth and consistent results.
While I haven't personally tried it, I believe you can substitute all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour in a 1:1 ratio for this recipe. If you do decide to make it with gluten-free flour, I'd love to hear about your experience. Feel free to share your results in the comments!
If your peanut butter is sticking to the measuring cup, there are a few tricks you can try to make it slide out more easily:
To ease peanut butter sticking to the measuring cup try any of the following methods.
- Warm the cup: Run under hot water briefly for a few seconds to loosen the peanut butter and make it easier to slide out.
- Use a spatula: Scrape out with a spatula after scooping using a spatula to easily release any stuck peanut butter in the cup.
- Grease the cup: Apply baking spray or nonstick spray in the measuring cup and the peanut butter will slide out easily.
- Chill the peanut butter: Refrigerate briefly to firm up the soft and sticky peanut butter. This can help prevent it from sticking to the measuring cup.
How to Store
Room Temperature
The peanut butter bread will maintain its freshness at room temperature for up to 4 days when stored in an airtight bread container.
Refrigerator
This peanut butter loaf will remain fresh in the fridge for up to a week. Simply place the slices in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator for optimal freshness.
Freezing Instructions
To freeze the bread, individually wrap each slice in plastic wrap and then add a layer of aluminum foil for extra protection. Arrange the wrapped slices on a baking tray and place them in the freezer until they harden. Once hardened, transfer the slices to a ziplock bag or an airtight container for 2 months.
Related Quick Bread Recipes
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Recipe
Peanut Butter Bread
Equipment
- 1 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
Ingredients
- 2 cup all-purpose flour (240 g)
- ¼ cup butter (57 g) room temperature
- ¾ cup castor sugar (170 g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (10 g)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda (1.25 g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sour cream (123 g) room temperature
- 1 cup chunky peanut butter (250 g) room temperature
- 1 egg (large)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 g)
- ¼ cup peanuts (roasted) (32 g) for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray the baking nonstick spray to a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper in the bottom.
- In a large bowl sift together all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk and set aside.
- In another large bowl using an electric mixer beat the butter with peanut butter, egg and vanilla until fluffy and creamy.
- Add in the sour cream and mix until combined.
- Add the flour mixture and fold until mixed together.
- Pour the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the peanuts on the top before putting the pan in the middle rack of the oven.
- Bake for an hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with a few crumbs.
- Let the peanut butter loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack.
Notes
- Thick Batter: The batter for this peanut butter quick bread may appear thick, but there's no need to worry. Once baked, it will yield perfect results, so trust the process and enjoy the delicious outcome.
- Prevent excessive browning during baking. To prevent excessive browning while baking, closely monitor oven temperature. Around 40 minutes, check bread color, if top is getting too dark, loosely cover with foil. Avoid tight wrapping to prevent foil from sticking to bread surface.
Jugni A
Unbelievably quick and easy
Madeeha Anwar
Thank you Jugni. I am glad it was easy for you to bake.
Kim
Hi Madeeha, I didn't read the recipe until I was halfway through gathering ingredients, but how much butter, milk and orange zest did you add? We improvised and just added 1 cup milk. It's in the oven now - hope it turns out okay! Would like to know how you made yours. Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Madeeha Anwar
Hi Kim,
So good to know you made the recipe. How did it turn out?
PS: There is no milk and orange zest in this recipe. Thanks.
Kim
Hi again,
Your recipe doesn't list how much butter should be added, and the instructions say to add orange zest and milk, so I was confused. Could you please update when you get a chance?Mine turned out okay, a little drier than I would have liked, probably because of the missing fat. It was good for breakfast though! I'll have to try it again as you originally intended. Have a great day.
Madeeha Anwar
Hi Kim,
You are right, I forgot to mention butter before. I have added the quantity of butter in the recipe now. Please try it again and hopefully this time it will be perfect 🙂
Thanks for pointing it out.