Go Back

Brown Butter Banana Bread

Brown butter banana bread with a deeply golden crust and a richer, nutty crumb from browned butter. Easy banana bread method includes cooling the browned butter 10 minutes and baking until a toothpick comes out clean.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes
cooling browned butter 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: American
Calories: 320
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Bananas
  • 3 ripe bananas mashed
Browned butter base
  • 0.5 cup unsalted butter browned until golden and nutty
  • 0.75 cup brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry ingredients
  • 1.5 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 0.5 tsp cinnamon
  • 0.25 tsp salt
Optional mix-ins
  • 0.25 cup chopped walnuts or chocolate chips optional

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. Cool for 10 minutes.
Mix the batter
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
  2. Whisk cooled browned butter and brown sugar together until smooth.
  3. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until the mixture looks glossy and combined.
  4. Stir in the mashed bananas until fully combined.
  5. Fold in the all-purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until just combined, then fold in any mix-ins.
Bake
  1. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake at 350°F for 60–70 minutes. Bake until the top is deeply golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Notes

For the richest crumb, use very ripe bananas and avoid overmixing after the flour goes in—stop once no dry streaks remain. Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerate up to 5 days; freeze slices up to 2 months. For a dairy-free swap, use a 1:1 plant butter labeled for baking and brown it the same way to keep the nutty caramel notes.