Bread isn't just for sandwiches! Yes, I love thick, homemade sandwich bread, but breakfast breads and dessert bread are just as important in the Amish arsenal as anything else. And, from my experience, a recipe for chocolate peanut butter bread that an Amish woman in Ohio once gave me is simply too fantastic to not make and gobble right up!
🛝 Teaching Children To Bake
I first made this recipe years ago when my oldest daughter was two or three years old. I've enjoyed baking with my girls since they were young. Many Amish homemakers start baking with their children, usually girls, at a very early age. Oral histories, recipes, and techniques are passed down and ingrained early among the Amish and Mennonites.
My parents were exploring one of my favorite Plain communities a few years ago, the Old Order Mennonite settlement near Dayton, Virginia. While there, they stopped at one of my favorite Plain businesses: Rocky Cedar Enterprises, a combination book store,fabric store and sundry shop run by two Mennonite sisters. While they were there they picked up a gift for my daughters: a kid-sized set of bakeware! Mom said the one of the Mennonite sisters told them that a lot of the Mennonite moms use this kitchenware as a "starter set" for their children as they steep them in kitchen traditions from an early age.
This bakeware goes right in the oven.
The Entemann's brand likes to start catering to children at an early age too: bakeware, brilliant idea!
📜 Step-By-Step Chocolate Peanut Butter Bread
This Chocolate Peanut Butter Bread recipe comes to us from an Amish baker in Holmes County, Ohio. It is a fantastic recipe with super flavor, like a Reese's cup in bread form. So if you are looking for a quick bread recipe that will impress people, this is it. This requires minimal prep time and you'll have it done in no time. The total time for baking is about an hour, so you can have this bread start to finish in about 90 minutes.
I used whole wheat flour, but you can use white all-purpose flour and it'll be great. The recipe calls for white flour, I just had wheat on hand. But you'll want two big bowls, one for mixing the dry ingredients, another to cream together the butter, chocolate chips, etc. You can use a whisk for the butter mixture, stir with a wooden spoon, or a stand mixer. Just make sure to scrape the edge of the bowl so you use all the chocolate batter.
I used regular white sugar, but you could swap it out for brown sugar. This recipe doesn't need improving, but using brown sugar could make it even better. There aren't really many variations I can recommend. I mean, there are some versions that call for adding a couple of ripe bananas to the mixture to make a chocolate peanut butter banana bread, but I don't think I'd go there. But try it if you want!
It's an easy bread to make. If I had to do it over again I might have added a smidge more than a cup of chocolate chips to it (really, can you EVER have too many chips?).
I used creamy peanut butter in the recipe, but you could use crunchy.
But this made a really, really good, tasty bread that would go well as either a sweet breakfast bread or, as I've been using it for this week, a bedtime snack. And this was a great bread to make with a 2-year-old: quick, easy and she was shrieking with excitement when it was time to remove it from the oven!
The only other advice I'd give is line the bread pans with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray. Also, try to use a large egg. If your one egg is really small, you might want to use two.
Use a toothpick to check for doneness.
Let the bread cool before trying to slice. You can freeze any "leftovers" (there won't be any) or just cover in plastic wrap and pick at it like I did.
The bread actually slices pretty well, but let it cool before slicing and it will hold up even better!
🍞 More Amish Bread Recipes
If you prefer just a basic Amish white bread, this is a good one too.
Cinnamon Raisin Bread: perfect!
Strawberry Bread: So good!
Old-Fashioned Summer Tomato Bread
🖨️ Full Recipe
Chocolate Peanut Butter Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 /2 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- quarter stick butter
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter, cup of sugar, peanut butter, egg and vanilla until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk into the batter just until combined.
- Fold in the cup of chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into a buttered and floured loaf pan.
- Mix the glaze and set aside.
- Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 50 - 55 minutes (half way through remove from oven and add the glaze), or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Kevin
So good to hear from you Jalayne, your area is very dear to me...I've been through Lyons several times over the years!
Carolyn
The bread looks yummy. I imagine Aster was delighted with her little loaf of bread. Looks as though she is becoming quite the little cook. Good job dad.
Kevin
Thanks, Carolyn, she does enjoy helping out in the kitchen!
Earlena Leonard
All the recipes look great. I just do not know where to start. Thank You forrrr sharing.
Kevin
Thank you for stopping by, Earlena!