1932 Peanut Butter Bread – My Current Obsession

Everyone is baking – and specifically, baking bread!  Why the hell not, whatever sparks joy and keeps you sane I say.

Believe me, I had the best intentions to attempt making my own sourdough starter, to investigate and conquer the complexities of artisanal bread making.  But after watching a couple of  YouTube tutorials, I realised that I should maybe leave this to the more patient and skilled bakers, or until my confidence levels are not so fragile.

I read about the Peanut Butter bread trend, triggered by its popularity on the subreddit r/Old_Recipes (I’m finally getting the hang of Reddit – I think).  I just had to try it!  Peanut Butter – tick!  One bowl mixing – tick!  No yeast – tick!

This recipe comes from a recipe book published in 1932, titled “Five Roses Flour Cookbook – A Guide to Good Cooking” by Elizabeth Driver.  Nostalgia all the way.  Coming out of the Depression area, this recipe doesn’t need a lot of complicated, hard to find ingredients.  Perfect for lockdown baking because it features ingredients that you have in your pantry already and/or if you have to hit the shops (safety first!), you should get it at your nearest supermarket.

So, let’s dive right in!  This is actually easier than baking banana bread (which is actually so March 2020 BTW).

Here is the recipe, as shared on the original Reddit post:

2 cups all-purpose flour (500 ml)

1/4 cup sugar (60 ml – I used brown sugar) 

4 teaspoons baking powder (20 ml) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1/2 teaspoon salt (2 ml)

1 1/3 cup milk (325 ml)

1/2 cup peanut butter (125ml – I read a few comments/recommendations – stating that you can add a bit more, so why not!  I ended up adding a huge heaped teaspoon extra).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees (my oven was on 180 Celsius)

Mix all the dry ingredients

Mix in the milk, then the peanut butter (I came across the suggestion to mix the peanut butter with the milk, so that it incorporates a little easier).  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrape into greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My bread loaf tin is quite broad, so the baking mixture was more ‘shallow’ which shortened the baking time.  I only baked it for 45 minutes, and it was cooked through, and nicely browned on top.  My peanut butter bread also was a bit ‘flatter’, because of the pan size of course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t expect this to be super sweet, the peanut butter flavour is ‘there’, without punching you in the face.  The texture is very similar to banana bread. This is seriously good – especially if you are a peanut butter fan. I was tempted to add white chocolate chips, but thought it was a better idea to get the ‘original’ taste first. Choc chips will be a great addition though, I may do it next time!  And maybe bake it in mini-loaves, so that I don’t have to get up so often to go to the kitchen to cut a slice.  Speaking of which, leave it too cool for a bit before cutting, the texture is quite crumbly.  But I think I may have overmixed it a bit!

Some ideas to serve your peanut butter bread (I had it as is, it was delicious):

• Fresh out of the oven (it is quite moist and crumbly) with a pat of fresh butter
• Drizzled with honey or maple syrup
• A spread of Nutella
• French toast (an idea I read about, it sound fabulous)
• With homemade cinnamon butter
• Toasted with apricot jam

If you try this recipe, let me know!