Brown Butter Banana Bread

The base of this recipe comes from my favorite classic banana bread recipe that we use in our Nutella banana bread and apple banana bread. It's a classic recipe you can print, get dirty, and pass on to your family for years. You may even memorize it.

We love to take our classic, tried, and true recipes and put a little twist on them, like when we turned our chocolate chip pudding cookies into death by chocolate pudding cookies. Sometimes you come up with something even better. Dare I say this is the best banana bread? Maybe even better than the original?

File this recipe in the back of your mind and pull it out if you're like me and keep seeing those spotty bananas hanging out in the pantry. They're just waiting to be given the chance to turn into the moist brown butter banana bread. No wasting bananas and the best banana bread ever.

Bonus because you can freeze baked banana bread when you're ready to eat it (for the holidays when the family is in town).

What Does Brown Butter Do in Baking?

Brown butter has a distinctly rich, nutty, and toasty flavor you can't get anywhere else. It takes the butter in any traditional baking recipe or dessert and pulls that nutty buttery flavor to the forefront when regular butter may just add richness and texture to the recipe. It has a similar nutty flavor like oat flour added to this oat flour banana bread.

It takes the butter from the background of the recipe and makes it the star of the show like in our brown butter oatmeal cookies, brown butter blueberry coffee cake, and brown butter toffee cookies.

Can you just swap brown butter in any recipe that calls for melted butter? Surprisingly, no. Most butter is made of up 15% water. When you melt and brown the butter, that water evaporates out of the butter, which changes the recipe and how much moisture should be added back in.

Luckily, this recipe makes those adjustments for you. Leaving you with super moist and soft banana bread. As a rule for other recipes, add 1 Tablespoon of liquid (ie milk, sour cream, greek yogurt, more butter) for every ½ cup of brown butter.

What You'll Love this Brown Butter Banana Bread

• Bursting with banana flavor (from 1 ½ cups of mashed bananas!).
• Rich and nutty flavor thanks to the browned butter.
• Freezes well for make-ahead holidays and parties.
• Easy to customize with add-ins like chopped nuts or chocolate chips.
• It has the perfect texture —ultra-soft with moist crumbs.
• Easy to make with one bowl—no hand mixer necessary.

Key Ingredients & Why You Need Them

Here are the simple ingredients to make this homemade banana bread. Jump down to the recipe card for exact measurements.

• Unsalted butter: this is the second most important ingredient, next to the bananas. It's melted and browned to add depth and a nutty flavor to the recipe.
• Flour: all-purpose flour or 1:1 gluten-free flour (like Bob's Red Mill) work well. Make sure to use the spoon and level method when you measure the flour.
• Leavens: the mixture of baking soda and baking powder help the banana bread rise. Make sure they're not expired!
• Salt and vanilla extract: for flavor.
• Bananas: use very overripe bananas for the most delicious banana flavor.
• Brown sugar: you can use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar, which plays well with the rich flavors of the butter. It also yields soft and moist baked goods.
• Granulated sugar: the addition of granulated sugar offers more sweetness and texture.
• Eggs: to bind the bread together.
• Sour cream: the acid in sour cream or greek yogurt balances the recipe well and brings moisture back into the bread that was lost when browning the butter. You can also use a couple tablespoons of milk if you only have that on hand.

How to Ripen Bananas Quickly

• 20-Minute Method: place the bananas (with the peel) on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 250°F. Reduce the bake time based on initial ripeness.
• One-day method: put the bananas in a paper bag, close and leave it at room temperature and you'll have ripe bananas the next day. The ethylene the bananas release speeds up the ripening. Add an apple to speed this process up even more.

Make the Browned Butter First

Melt butter and cook it slowly to toast the milk solids and give it the most delicious brown butter flavor. It takes about 5 minutes and makes a world of difference when it comes to baked cooks!

Slice the butter into equal pieces. This helps it melt and cook evenly. Place the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Swirl the butter around to melt it and continue to stir constantly for 5 minutes.

The butter will begin to bubble and foam and the butter will turn golden brown. Some of the bubbles will subside around the 5-minute mark and you'll start to see the milk solids start to toast and turn a golden brown color. It should smell buttery and nutty. Immediately remove it from the heat and pour it into a medium bowl to cool.

While the butter is cooling, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

Place the banana in a large mixing bowl and use the back of a fork or a potato masher to mash bananas. You should have 1 ½ cups of mashed bananas (about 3 large ripe bananas). Add the cooled butter, eggs, sour cream, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla and whisk well until combined and all of the lumps are gone. It's okay to have some lumps of bananas.

Pour the flour mixture into the banana mixture and use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix until completely combined. Be careful not to over mix or the bread will become dense.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread it out evenly into each corner with a spatula or spoon. If desired, slice another ripe banana down the center lengthwise then place the sliced banana, cut-side-up, in the center of the loaf.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, until the top and sides are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center just barely comes out clean. Start checking the bread for doneness around 40 minutes and tent it with aluminum foil if it's starting to look too brown.

Allow the bread to cool in the loaf pan for 15 minutes. Use the parchment paper to pull it out of the pan then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

Storage and Freezing

Allow the brown butter banana bread to cool completely then write it tightly in plastic wrap and store it at room temperate for 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days. Baked banana bread will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 4 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and serve cold or warm each piece in the microwave and enjoy with butter.