Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 medium bananas, mashed
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
⅓ cup buttermilk
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x4-inch loaf pan and then line with parchment paper so that it hangs over the two long sides.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the banana, peanut butter, sugars, buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla extract until smooth.

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and fold together with a rubber spatula until completely combined and there are no spots with raw flour. Gently stir in the chocolate chips.

5. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top into an even layer. Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick or thin knife inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. If your bread appears to be browning too quickly, place a tented piece of foil over it (I did this at the 45-minute mark).

6. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. The cooled bread should be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap; it can be stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.

NOTES:

• Recipe credit
• This definitely made enough batter for two smaller pans.  I thought it might overflow and put a pan under it just in case.  (It didn't.)
•  In my single pan, it took a lot longer to bake.  I kept going until the internal temperature was 190.
• I used mini chips so mine looks a lot more chocolaty.  Fewer minis would also work.
• It tastes yummy and is staying moist, even after a few days.

Tropical Sherbet

1 c sugar

1 c orange juice

1 c pineapple juice

1 ripe banana

1 T lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c milk

Combine all ingredients except milk in blender and blend until sugar is dissolved and banana is pureed. Add milk and chill in refrigerator if necessary, then freeze in ice cream maker.

Banana Bread

2 large bananas (overripe ones are best)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 tbls. milk

2 cups flour

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup nuts (optional)

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup soft margarine

Mix everything well. Put into greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour at 350.

NOTES:

• I almost always use super ripe bananas that I've stored in the freezer.
• I've often used 5 smaller bananas for 2 loaves.

Banana Cream Cheesecake

1 pkg. white cake mix, divided
4 eggs, divided
3 tbsp. oil
2/3 c packed brown sugar, divided
2 bananas, sliced
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 c milk
1 1/2 c cool whip

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Reserve 1 cup dry cake mix. Mix remaining cake mix with 1 egg, oil, and 1/3 c brown sugar with mixer. (Mixture will be crumbly.) Press onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of greased 13 x 9 baking pan. Top with bananas.

Beat cream cheese and remaining sugar with mixer. Add reserved cake mix, remaining eggs, and lemon juice; beat one minute. Blend in milk. (Batter will be thin.) Pour into crust.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 4 hours. Top with whipped topping. Refrigerate leftovers.

Source: Kraft foods freebie magazine

Notes: Good flavor - especially the cream cheese/banana filling. The crust is pretty firm, so be sure you keep it thin and don't let the edges and corners get too thick. I think the crust was a little sweet and would possibly try it without the extra sugar next time. Of course, I don't like sweet stuff in general, so I may be oversensitive.
This would be good to try with a graham cracker crust (but you'd need to work out the 1 c of cake mix in the batter issue).

Serve it with coffee! (Really)