Peanut Butter and Pay Attention

A lot of people say that they can’t cook, or can’t bake, or are just generally inept when it comes to all things kitchen.  I don’t necessarily think that certain people are born with better cook genes, but I do think that some people are genuinely interested in the ‘art’ of food mastery so they are more likely to pay attention to every detail, which is really what makes you the better cook.  For instance, I’ve watched people who, even though following a recipe, never stop once to taste their food until it’s on the plate being served.  I just don’t think you can successfully approach cooking that way.  I also don’t think that if you decide to bake a loaf of bread, that you should allow yourself to get distracted by activities that do not allow you to tend to said bread immediately following the dinging of the “done” timer.  Cough.

2 cups of flour sat in a bowl for two days this weekend because I mistakenly thought I was out of baking powder.  Being out of baking powder essentially means that you can’t bake shit because it won’t rise.  Sunday, however, I came across the baking powder tucked away and decided to throw together this peanut butter bread that I saw over at Dinners For a Year and Beyond via Tastespotting.

Now, as I said before, I was to blame for the catastrophe of the bread being overbaked.  However, this bread is sort of like the ‘coffee’ of breads in that it smells absolutely amazing and tastes nothing like it smells.  It tastes like regular bread.  I was expecting, by the tantalizing and intertwining peanut butter and chocolate aroma emitting from my oven, that I was going to be noshing on the bread version of a buckeye candy.  Eh, not so much.  Remember when you were a kid and your mom packed you a peanut butter sandwich but put it in a baggie next to something cold, so cold, that the peanut butter essentially separated from the bread and all stuck to one side of the bread?  Well this bread tastes like the peanut butter-less other half.  Still fresh with peanut butter “essence”, but not much.  If I made this again, I would probably add a little more peanut butter and at the very least, more sugar.  On the plus side, it only requires one bowl.

Peanut Butter Bread

Peanut Butter Bread
Adapted from: Dinners for a Year and Beyond

makes 1 loaf
To add piazza to your bread, top with chopped peanuts and chocolate chips before baking.
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
2 1/4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspon salt
chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla. Add eggs and milk and mix well.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the peanut butter mixture. Beat well.  Top with chocolate chips or jelly, if desired.

Bake for 50 – 55 minutes until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan 10 minutes before unmolding.

Oh, and DON’T OVERBAKE IT.