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Brown Butter Banana Bread

1h 15m Total time
15m Prep
10 Serves
easy
🌱 Vegetarian

About

Brown butter is the secret upgrade every banana bread deserves. It takes 5 extra minutes and adds a toasty, nutty depth that makes this loaf taste far more complex than the effort warrants. Use the blackest, most overripe bananas you can find — they're sweeter, more fragrant, and give a deeper banana flavour than yellow ones.

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Grease and line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with baking parchment.
  2. Brown the butter: melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling regularly. It will foam, then subside. Continue cooking until it smells nutty and the milk solids turn deep golden-brown. Pour into a large bowl and let it cool for 5 minutes.
  3. Whisk the brown sugar into the browned butter until combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla extract.
  4. Stir in the mashed bananas.
  5. Fold in the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, and cinnamon until just combined — a few streaks of flour are fine. Don't overmix.
  6. Fold in the nuts if using.
  7. Pour into the prepared tin. Scatter the demerara sugar evenly over the top.
  8. Bake for 55–65 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean (a few moist crumbs are fine; wet batter is not). Cover loosely with foil for the last 15 minutes if the top is browning too quickly.
  9. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Best sliced when completely cool, though warm with butter is hard to resist.

Notes

  • The loaf keeps well wrapped at room temperature for 4–5 days and actually improves on day 2.
  • Freezes excellently — slice before freezing and toast from frozen.
  • Add 100g dark chocolate chips for a chocolate-banana version.
  • To speed up ripening: place unpeeled bananas on a baking tray and roast at 180°C for 20 minutes until the skins turn black. Cool completely before using.