Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Loaf

This is my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip loaf. Normally it looks a lot better than this one. I toyed with not showing it to you, but I like to keep it real and you need to know that things don't always go as planned in The English Kitchen as in any kitchen.



For some reason this time all the chocolate bits sunk to the bottom of the loaf, creating a scrummy, but not entirely aesthetically pleasing, layer of chocolate crunch.



They do look a lot better when they are speckled here and there throughout the loaf, and normally they are . . . speckled here and there, that is . . .
Today they all sunk . . . coz yes . . . even I have things go wrong in my kitchen from time to time. Everyone does.



So whilst I would not consider this outing a total success . . . neither would I call it a total flop. It's still scrummy enough to keep me coming back into the kitchen for just . . . one . . . more . . . sliver. Which says an awful lot, in my opinion . . .



So, if you like peanut butter and chocolate together, I highly recommend this deliciously moist and peanut buttery loaf. Next time I am going to dust my chocolate bits with a bit of the flour before I fold them in. I usually do that, but today . . . well . . . c'est la vie!



*Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake*
makes one 9 by 5 inch loaf
Printable Recipe

Wonderfully moist and peanutbuttery, and stogged full of bittersweet chocolate chips.

4 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla
6.5 ounces of plain flour (1 1/2 cups)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 ounces butter, softened (3/4 cup)
4 ounces smooth peanut butter (1/2 cup)
7 1/2 ounces of soft light brown sugar (1 cup packed)
12 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped into bits*C/325*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper. Butter the parchment. Set aside.

Beat together the eggs and vanilla. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

Place the butter, peanut butter and brown sugar into a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on high until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides from time to time. Continue to beat, drizzling in the egg mixture in a slow stream, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture in three additions, beating on low speed, and scraping down the sides after each addition. Fold in the chocolate bits.

Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan, leveling the top with a rubber spatula. Bake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean and the cake is golden brown. If in an hours time you think the cake is browning too quickly, tent loosely with foil.

Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Slice and serve.