NFL Player TJ Watt’s Favorite Dessert Is a Comfort Food Mashup

If you’ve ever seen Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt in action, or even just looked at his stats, then you know he’s a wildly impressive football player. However, when he’s not on a mission to sack the quarterback on Sundays—or compete in a Peloton class against his brother J.J. or star in the new holiday Dick’s Sporting Goods commercial—Watt is a pretty simple guy.

He takes vacations with his wife, Dani, and the rest of his footballing family, including former Arizona Cardinals defensive end J.J. and former Steelers fullback Derek. He enjoys grilling steaks and burgers. And, he even cleans his own pool—though, apparently at his own risk, according to a 2023 video of him falling in while using the net.

Even his diet is pretty simple. Watt has eaten the same oatmeal breakfast every day for years and orders a classic double deluxe burger with added ketchup and cheese curds at his favorite fast food restaurant, Culver’s. He’s even admitted to being “pretty boring” when it comes to his pregame meal of chicken and rice.

However, when it comes to dessert, Watt’s taste is anything but boring.

Pittsburgh Steelers TJ Watt’s Favorite Dessert

While we do know that the Watt brothers enjoy an Old El Paso Cinnamon Toast Crunch taco shell filled with churro-seasoned ice cream—which you can actually make for yourself thanks to the kit on Walmart.com starting Dec. 1—that’s not the only dessert T.J. is sinking his teeth into. When it comes to a sweet treat, Watt goes all out on a recipe that combines two desserts into one: his wife Dani’s Carrot Cake Banana Bread with White Chocolate Chips.

Dani, who is expecting her first child with the future Hall of Famer, shared her easy quick bread recipe in the “Cooking with the Starrs” cookbook. The book was created by Bart Starr’s family foundation, the Starr Children’s Fund, and features 32 recipes from the Starr family and other famous footballing families in the NFL—including T.J.’s brother Derek’s wife, Gabriella, and Travis and Jason Kelce’s mom, Donna.  

The cookbook is available for purchase for $30 via the Packers’ Pro Shop, and a portion of its proceeds will benefit pediatric cancer research.

Dani’s recipe is a banana bread mashup that features warm spices, shredded carrots, and decadent chocolate chips. While it contains a few ingredients to make it a little healthier—like coconut sugar, oats (T.J. loves his oats), and optional protein powder, likely to fit with T.J.’s diet—you can easily substitute those for your traditional baking ingredients.

Here’s how to make the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt’s favorite dessert.

How To Make T.J. Watt’s Favorite Carrot Cake Banana Bread with White Chocolate Chips

Ingredients:

• 2-3 ripe mashed bananas
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup milk of choice
• 1 egg (or flax egg)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cup gluten-free oat flour
• 3/4 cup gluten-free oats
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3/4 cup organic shredded carrots, lightly packed
• 1/2 to 1 cup white chocolate chips (I use white chocolate baking chips)
• 4-6 scoops unflavored collagen peptides (optional)
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder + 1/2 cup milk (optional)
• Walnuts or pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Coat a loaf pan, 9×9 baking dish, or muffin tin with oil.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix mashed banana, coconut sugar, maple syrup, milk, egg, and vanilla.
4. Add in oat flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg until thoroughly mixed.
5. Fold in carrots, white chocolate chips, and any additional ingredients of your choice.
6. Add to baking dish or muffin tin of choice.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes until cooked thoroughly (check with a toothpick).
8. Let cool for 15 minutes and enjoy hot or store in the fridge in an airtight container overnight and enjoy cold!

This recipe was developed by Dani Watt and shared courtesy of “Cooking with the Starrs.”