Brown Butter Banana Bread
Serves 10Prep 15m · Cook 1hSnackBaking
My father hid the last bananas behind the flour bin so they could get properly spotted, and called anyone who ate a yellow banana an optimist. The brown butter was his one flourish — he said it made a Tuesday loaf taste like a Sunday one. Our house never once threw a banana away.
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 very ripe bananas (the spottier, the better)
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
- Melt the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat and cook, swirling, until the milk solids turn deep golden and it smells like toasted hazelnuts, 4 to 6 minutes. Pour into a large bowl and cool slightly.
- Mash the bananas into the brown butter, then whisk in the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and yogurt.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a separate bowl, then fold into the banana mixture just until no dry streaks remain. Fold in the walnuts, if using.
- Scrape into the pan and bake until a skewer comes out with only moist crumbs, 55 to 60 minutes.
Recipe by Denise O.