This 7-Ingredient Peanut Butter Bread Is So Much Easier Than Attempting Sourdough

Breadmaking is having a moment right now, and it's easy to see why. It's a rewarding, low-cost distraction that happens to be delicious AF. What's more, there's a bread recipe for every type of baking scenario... or skill level. Case in point: Quick bread recipes are made without yeast, so they don't need to rise before baking. This makes them perfect for when you're short on time (or just know you aren't one for hopping on the sourdough bandwagon).

Take this peanut butter bread, for example. It's a no-yeast, no-knead quick bread recipe that's pretty difficult to mess up. Simply mix the ingredients together — which takes about 10 minutes — then pop it in the oven. The hardest part, TBH, is deciding what to eat with it. (Grape jelly? Honey? Nutella? More peanut butter?) That said, this bread is more crumbly and less sweet than other quick breads (such as zucchini bread or banana bread) and has a subtle peanut butter flavor. It pairs well with a wide range of toppings, which is ideal if you'd rather control the sweetness by way of spreads and condiments.

And while this magical bread might sound like the coolest thing since, well, sliced bread, it's actually been around nearly a century. The original recipe is from the 1932 edition of Five Roses Flour: A Guide to Good Cooking (Buy It, $19, amazon.com); it went viral in July 2019 when Glen and Friends Cooking shared a YouTube video of the hosts making the bread. Since then, many variations of the simple bread recipe have popped up across the web.

This particular version calls for ingredients that you probably already have on hand: peanut butter, brown sugar, eggs, milk, flour, baking powder, and salt. Smooth and chunky peanut butter are both fair game, so take your pick. And if you don't have peanut butter? Other nut or seed butter — such as cashew butter — work as well. However, to keep it healthy-ish, be sure to use a nut or seed butter without added sugar or salt.

Oh, and here's the best part: As with other quick breads, this recipe offers the perfect vehicle for your favorite mix-ins. Try adding ¼ to ¹/3 cup of chocolate chips, nuts, or chopped fruit to the batter. Once it's in the oven, you'll have delicious homemade bread in just 60 minutes. Sourdough who?

Easy Peanut Butter Bread Recipe

Makes: 10 to 12 slices (or one loaf)

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup peanut butter (or nut/seed butter of choice)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk (cow- or plant- based work)
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup chocolate chips, nuts, or chopped fruit (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease loaf pan with cooking spray or butter. Alternatively, line loaf pan with a sheet of parchment paper.
2. In a small pan over low-medium heat, warm peanut butter for 30 seconds, or until slightly melted. You can also microwave PB in a microwave-safe bowl for 15 to 30 seconds.
3. In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, brown sugar, eggs, and milk. Mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add 1/3 of dry ingredients to wet ingredients, then mix until incorporated. Add another 1/3, mix, then add the last third. Mix until ingredients are just combined.
5. Fold in chocolate chips, nuts, or chopped fruit, if using. Avoid overmixing.
6. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick in center comes out clean.
7. Let bread cool for 15 minutes before slicing. Store in refrigerator in an air-tight container for up to 7 days.

Peanut Butter Bread Recipe Notes

• For extra flavor, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to the liquid ingredients.
• To control the sweetness even further, you can omit the brown sugar and use naturally sweet add-ins (i.e. sliced bananas) instead.
• Depending on your oven, this quick bread might need more or less time to bake. Start checking it around the 45-minute mark.