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Brown Butter Banana Bread

Brown butter banana bread with a deeply golden, nutty hazelnut-caramel flavor and a darker crust. This easy banana bread bakes to a rich, moist crumb with a clean toothpick test.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: American
Calories: 320
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Banana bread batter
  • 3 ripe bananas Mash until smooth.
  • 0.5 cup unsalted butter Brown until golden and nutty.
  • 0.75 cup brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1.5 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 0.5 tsp cinnamon
  • 0.25 tsp salt
  • 0.25 cup chopped walnuts Optional; you can substitute with chocolate chips.

Equipment

  • 1 light-colored saucepan
  • 1 9x5 loaf pan

Method
 

Brown the butter
  1. Brown the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat, swirling frequently, until the milk solids turn golden brown and smell nutty. Remove from heat and cool 10 minutes.
Bake
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9x5 loaf pan. Make sure the pan is well coated to prevent sticking.
  2. Whisk cooled browned butter and brown sugar together until smooth and glossy. Then whisk in eggs and vanilla until fully combined.
  3. Stir in mashed bananas until the batter looks uniform with no dry streaks. Mix just until combined to keep the crumb tender.
  4. Fold in all-purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until just combined. Fold in chopped walnuts (or chocolate chips) if using.
  5. Pour batter into the greased loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 60–70 minutes, until the top is deeply golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Notes

Cool the loaf in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift out to cool completely for clean slicing. Store covered at room temperature up to 3 days or refrigerate up to 5 days; freeze sliced portions up to 2 months. For a lighter crumb, use whole-wheat flour in place of up to half the all-purpose flour (texture may be slightly denser).