Browned butter makes this classic banana bread recipe extra flavorful and super special!
Oh how I love browned butter! That wonderfully rich nutty aroma that fills the kitchen every time I brown a stick of butter is incredible and intoxicating! It can make almost any baked good taste even better so I decided to kick my classic banana bread up a notch by using browned butter. And, of course, it turned out AMAZING!!!
It was a cleaning out the cupboards kind of day when I made this bread because we were headed out of town for a few weeks and we had a pile of bananas on the counter and variety of already opened add-ins that made for some pretty awesome banana bread for us to take with!
Each loaf turned out moist and flavorful and fantastic…
Feel free to get creative with your add-ins and toppings. I started with the basic banana…
Then I made the recipe again with some dark chocolate and walnuts added in…
And then again with a little peanut butter and chocolate hazelnut spread swirled throughout it…
This is a recipe that you’ll want to make again and again! Let me show you have very easy it is…
Start by browning the butter…
Then prepare the batter…
Stir in any additional ingredients and bake to greatness..
Slice and enjoy!!!
Enjoy!
~Maegan
This recipe was created as part of my partnership with Gold Medal Flour however thoughts and opinions are certainly my own!
- • ½ cup (1 stick) butter, browned
- • 2 eggs
- • 1 cup sugar
- • 4 medium bananas, mashed
- • 2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
- • 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Variation #1:
- • ½ cup chopped walnuts
- • 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- Variation #2:
- • ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- • ¼ cup chocolate hazelnut spread
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour an 8x4-inch loaf pan and set aside.
- Place the butter in a light-colored pan over medium heat and whisk constantly as it melts. The butter will start to bubble and foam and then subside as the water evaporates and the milk solids start to turn a light brown color. Just as it starts to turn light brown and you smell that nutty aroma, remove it from the heat and pour into a bowl to cool. Once the butter starts to brown, it will race into burnt, so watch it carefully and remove from the heat as soon as it starts to brown.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Stir in the browned butter and mashed bananas. Add the flour and baking soda and stir until well combined.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and garnish with a few banana slices, if desired. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Variation #1:
- Stir in the chopped walnuts and dark chocolate chips before pouring batter into the prepared loaf pan. Garnish with sliced bananas, chopped walnuts and dark chocolate chips, if desired. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Variation #2:
- After pouring the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Use a table knife to swirl the peanut butter then the chocolate hazelnut spread into the batter before baking for 45-50 minutes.
Hi Maegan
I see that you didn’t add any flavoring to any of these breads.
Hi Jackie! I didn’t, but I’m sure they’d still taste great if you added your favorite flavoring. I really like the way the browned butter and banana flavors come through as well as the chocolate or peanut butter in the other loaves. Enjoy!
Hi maegan, would the bread still turn out okay if I replace half of the sugar with brown sugar, and add a few spices?
Hi Jasmine! The taste and texture of the bread will turn out slightly different, but I’m sure still tasty if the right balance of spices is used. Enjoy!
Thank you very much! Making this for my church group on Saturday, I’m sure it will turn out super yummy!
I had to come back to leave a comment. This is the best banana bread recipe ever. I followed the recipe exactly except I used 1/2 a cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated, added vanilla, and cinnamon. I always do the walnut version, it comes out so moist and flavorful, very easy to make as well! Every get together, or birthday, I am requested to make this banana bread. This does NOT turn out well with margarine, the margarine separates as you try to brown it, and has about 2 tsp of murky yucky goop in it. Doesn’t brown well at all. The banana bread I made with margarine was gooey and mushy and just wasn’t right. So please, for anyone making this, spend a dollar more for BUTTER! I love this recipe so much, i have a smaller loaf pan so I fill that, and a 8×8 brownie pan with one batch of batter. Yum !!!
Thanks so much for sharing, Jasmine! I’m so happy you baked it and love it as much as we do. It’s my go-to banana bread too! 🙂