The OG of Banana Breads. I’ve made many a version of this classic, which you can find the recipes of throughout this website. I love adding things in, changing things around, but nothing will ever beat the original. It’s a classic and classics can’t be beaten. You can find hundreds of banana bread recipes out there – this one has been tries and tested to give the right level of bananiness, hold it’s shape well enough to slice, but still be a cake like texture. 

Method

Cream the butter & sugar together, either in a bowl with a spoon, or in a free standing mixer with a paddle attachment – the butter needs to be soft for the texture to be where you need it. If you butter is hard, cut it in to small pieces, place between two sheets of baking paper and use a rolling pin to roll it thin. As the butter become thinner it will become softer and more malleable. It’s ready when you can easily push your finger through the butter.

Next add the peanut butter and stir until smooth, followed by the egg and combine everything together.

Next add the flour – the mix will start to go a bit dry but just keep mixing, it will become smooth.

Break up the pretzel pieces and stir them through (reserve a couple for aesthetic purposes), and the chocolate chips.

Leave the dough in the fridge for 2 hours (you can bake them straight away, but if you have time, don’t skip this step as it changes the final texture a lot and gives them that proper chewy cookie texture).

Heat the oven to 170C. Roll the dough in to golf ball sized balls, or ice an ice cream scoop to measure. 

Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper, and place the balls spread well apart. You will probably need to bake these in batches to make sure there’s enough space on the trays. Push the balls down slightly so they stay in place, and you can extra pretzel pieces at this point if you want to. It doesn’t change the taste, just looks cool.

Bake each batch for 11-14 minutes, until the edges are starting to turn golden. They’ll be super soft when you bring them out the oven, so leave them to cool fully before removing (you can slide the baking paper off the tray to re use the tray for the next batch, but leave the cookies on the paper).

Sprinkle with extra sea salt, and enjoy!