Browned Butter Banana Bread
/Even before the bread baking craze of the 2020 pandemic, I was always baking banana bread. I have gone through many iterations of my favorite recipes, but I think this is my favorite for two reasons.
First, it is easy. I use one bowl and two utensils to make this recipe. Anything with that few dishes is a winner.
Second, the browned butter in this recipe adds such a warm nutty flavor with very little effort. Browning butter is my favorite way to add a warm nutty flavor to foods since we have nut allergies in our home.
There is definitely a finesse when it comes to browning the butter, but once you have the hang of it, it really couldn’t be easier.
So what is this browned butter? Essentially, it is just cooked butter. While melting butter, you continue to stir continuously until you notice that the butter has developed a rich amber color. You will also be able to smell the moment that it browns. At that moment, you remove the butter from the heat. And there you have it, easy browned butter.
I based this recipe on Kate’s recipe from The Small Things' Blog. That recipe calls for melted butter. Once while I was trying to do a million things at once, I let the butter cook a bit long and decided to let it fully brown before removing it from the heat. The end result was SO good.
Here is my full recipe for Browned Butter Banana Bread:
Ingredients
6 tbsp butter, browned (this is an approximation, you can do as much as a full stick of butter)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp milk
1 tsp baking soda
2 ripe bananas, smashed
Instructions
Spray loaf pan with nonstick spray.
Brown butter over medium heat. As it liquifies, stir the butter until it becomes a caramel color and starts to smell nutty. Remove from heat and let cool.
Whisk together sugar, brown sugar and eggs. Add flour, vanilla, milk, baking soda. Mix well.
Mix in smashed bananas and the melted butter. Make sure that the butter isn't too warm or the egg could scramble.
Bake at 325 for 50-55 minutes. If the top starts to brown, make an aluminum foil tent and place it over the loaf.
If you’re feeling a little crazy, you can include mix-ins like old fashioned oats, chocolate chips, nuts, and so on! Enjoy!