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Loaf of Brown Butter Banana Bread with two slices laying down, on a marble platter with coffee, butter, and bananas completing the scene.

Brown Butter Banana Bread

My perfect go-to banana bread has the perfect balance of moisture and tender crumb and a nutty brown butter flavor that serves to enhance the caramel notes of the banana. A tiny bit of sour cream adds moisture and body and prevents the bread from being too dry or cakey.
Yield: 1 loaf (10 servings)
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

For Banana Bread:

  • ½ cup / 113 g butter, ideally European-style salted butter (increase salt to 3/4 teaspoon if using unsalted)
  • 1¾ cups / 218 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional (more or less to taste)
  • 3 large / 290 g ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 ¼ cups mashed)
  • ¾ cup / 165 g packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • ¼ cup / 60 g sour cream, at room temperature
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 °F. Lightly butter a standard size (8½-by-4½ inch or 9-by-5 inch) loaf pan; press and strip of parchment paper into bottom of pan so it lines the bottom and long edges, leaving two overhangs on either side.
  • In a small saucepan
  • In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and set aside.
  • In a bowl or measuring cup, mash bananas until smooth. You should have 1 to 1 1/4 cups of mashed banana.
  • In a mixing bowl, whisk together brown sugar and eggs, followed by mashed banana, sour cream, and vanilla, whisking until smooth and evenly incorporated.
  • Mix in lukewarm brown butter. Finally, whisk in dry ingredients, mixing until just incorporated and no streaks or pockets of dry ingredients remain (batter may still be a little lumpy).
  • Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. If desired, butter or oil the edge of a knife or bench scraper and use that to run a line of fat down the center of the loaf (this will help form a nice defined crack as it bakes, but no worries if you skip this step).
  • Bake for about 55 to 65 minutes (45 to 55 minutes if using a 9-by-5-inch pan as your loaf will be a bit shallower) or until top is deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the deepest part of the bread comes out with some moist crumbs attached, but not any gooey batter.
  • Remove from oven and place pan on a wire rack to allow bread to cool for 30 minutes, then use the parchment overhang as handles to gently lift the loaf out of the pan and place on a wire rack to cool for at least an hour before slicing.
  • Store bread in an airtight container for up to 1 week. You can also freeze the banana bread (whole or sliced), wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or foil and placed inside a ziptop bag for up to 3 months.

Notes

  • If your bananas aren't quite fully ripe (the peels should be mostly brown), you can roast them in a 300 degree F oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the peels are deep brown and the bananas start to seep liquid. Let cool, then remove peels and proceed with the recipe as written.