Chocolate Chip Banana Bread w/ Peanut Butter Glaze

I hate letting food go to waste, so when my mother told me she was going to throw out a bunch of bananas that went from green to brown overnight, I offered to make some banana bread instead. So I did. And my coworkers were the happier for it.

Of course, I’ve never actually made banana bread, but that’s never stopped me before. I turned to my best baking friend, the internet to find a base recipe to start with. I liked the sound of The Joy of Baking‘s recipe, and modified it to my needs. Granted, my needs consisted of somehow making the entire thing a little less healthy, so I swapped out the nuts with some dark chocolate chips. And since I’m still in awe of the limited edition Elvis Presley Peanut Butter Cups, I thought I should continue the trend and add some peanut butter to my bread.

So I did. And the world was better for it.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread w/ Peanut Butter Glaze

• 1 cup (115 grams) dark chocolate chips
• 1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 pound (454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Glaze

• 3/4 cup powder sugar (sifted)
• 1 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
• 2-3 Tbsp 2% milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nuts. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread.) Scrape batter into prepared pan and  place the slices of banana on top of the batter for garnish. Bake until bread is golden brown and a  toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Let bread cool completely.

For the glaze:

Sift the powdered sugar into a medium size bowl.  Add the peanut and 2 tablespoons of the milk.  Mix well.  Add more milk if the mixture is too thick.

Using a spoon or spatula, spread the glaze over the top of the bread.  Place the bread in the refrigerator to harden the glaze.

Makes 1 – 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

Updated San Francisco Eats

The Epic Michael’s Pizza Conclusion

Saturday was supposed to be sushi day for Katie and myself. We were meeting a friend in Naperville for some Wild Tuna deliciousness; the keyword being WERE. He apparently “ate something” the night before that was making him “nearly vomit” throughout the day. I told him he was a “wimp” who needed to “deal with it,” but my insults and complaints didn’t sway him.

Deciding to save some money, Katie and I decided to take advantage of a free coupon that the VP of Michael’s Pizza gave us to get us back in to the restaurant after a 13-year hiatus. We ordered ourselves a double cheese pizza topped with crushed garlic. What were our thoughts?

The pizza was quite tasty. The cheese was well melted, and the garlic was indeed crushed and spread evenly throughout the pizza. We were iffy on the crust, though. Katie and I both preferred the inside pieces, because the little bit of naked crust on the outside tasted almost generic where crust is concerned.

Even with our small nitpicking aside, we tore through that pizza in one sitting, leaving only 5 lonely pizzas to sit in the fridge for leftovers. And it’s one thing I completely forgot about Michael’s Pizza: the leftovers always taste better than the fresh pizza. I don’t know what kind of weird magical voo-doo powder they use, but those five pieces didn’t last very long the next day. Somehow the cold causes just the right amount of congealing and flavor trapping to make it extra tasty.

Where does this leave my pizza rankings? I still think Rosati’s is the best pizza in Romeoville, but each of the companies definitely have their strengths.

Favorite Specialty Pizza – Fat Ricky’s Double Decker Pizza
Favorite Thin Crust Pizza – Michael’s Pizza
Favorite Overall Pizza Co – Rosati’s Pizza
Least Favorite Pizza Co – At’s-A-Nice Pizza
Not Reviewed – Giovanny’s Pizza