Brown Butter Banana Bread

Say that five times fast....and eat it five times faster!

Well, folks. It is our one year banana-bread-iversary! One year ago the pandemic was officially declared and we all got to stocking up on toilet paper and baking banana bread. Interesting way to respond to crisis, but nonetheless, here we are.

I feel like we all have our trusted banana bread recipes. The one that is our grandmother's, passed down generations. The one that is our favorite bloggers, and comes out right every time.

My go-to for the last few years has been Cookie and Kate's Healthy Banana Bread. I started making it in an attempt to find a healthy alternative, then never looked back. It never fails and withstands little tweaks like adding chocolate, nuts, toppings, etc.

I recently looked up different banana bread recipes, in my endless google searches of all things food, and found one from Tasting Table that had stellar reviews, and it had something that my trusted Cookie and Kate recipe didn't have -- browned butter. Or, any butter at all. So I tried it, but with some tweaks.

I loved the texture of whole wheat flour in banana bread, it takes it from a cake-y texture to a more substantial bread. And while I love the flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg, I also added some clove and vanilla extract to bump up the warmth in flavors. Try it and let me know what you think!

INGREDIENTS

Nonstick cooking spray, for greasing

8 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 large ripe bananas, mashed, plus 1 halved lengthwise for decoration

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extra

2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 cup dark brown sugar, plus more for coating bananas

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray, line with parchment, then spray parchment with cooking spray.

2. In a small saute or sauce pan, brown the butter and set aside. Let cool slightly.

(You don't want your eggs to scramble by adding hot butter to them)

3. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix the mashed bananas with the eggs and vanilla extract until fully incorporated.

4. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and spices. Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined. Pour in the 8 tablespoons of melted brown butter and stir until fully incorporated.

5. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Dip the 2 banana halves in some brown sugar cut-sides down; dust off any excess sugar. Place the sugared bananas in the batter cut-sides up and bake until a toothpick inserted.