I’m getting to know my new kitchen space. New oven (it’s a KitchenAid… it’s amazing), new light, new muscle memory from cracked eggshell to sink, new drawers for the whisks and spatulas to live and which dang drawer is it!? You know the drill. Change and newness. When I’m getting to know a new kitchen I like to make a supremely familiar recipe. Something that I barely need a recipe to pull together. Something that I know backwards and forwards from batter consistency to oven smell.
It’s banana bread. It’s always banana bread. A house isn’t a home without it.
A few years ago I made Brown Butter Banana Bread when I first moved to the French Quarter. The bread in various renditions has become a tradition that I’ll make long into my days in this new kitchen space.
We start with neglected (and respected) bananas, a heavy skillet, and butter to brown.
Two things you should know. 1. This is a one-skillet recipe. We’re going to melt and brown the butter in the skillet and whisk the rest of the ingredients in layers, all in this one dang skillet. Stovetop to oven. 2. A few months ago I thought someone was trying to break into my house (they weren’t), so I stood behind my front door with this skillet in my head ready to bonk an intruder in the head. That was unnecessary, but still…. how’s that for versatility?
I used Muscovado Sugar for this bread. It’s extra dark, moist, and molasses-y. It brings a lot of depth to the bread. If you don’t happen to have Muscovado, dark brown sugar will also be great.
Since we’re using a super dark brown sugar, and since I have a hunk of fresh ginger sitting in my fruit bowl staring me in the face, I thought it might be fun to play with a Dark and Stormy concept. Excuse to unpack the dark rum? Obviously.
Browned butter meets very dark brown sugar.
After the butter and sugar are whisked together, the mixture will still be greasy. The butter won’t be completely absorbed into the sugar. They’ll act like they don’t know how to get along until the eggs are whisked into the mixture. Eggs will make a glossy, smooth, refined butter mixture.
Since we’re going dark with the Muscovado sugar, we’ll add a little stormy with fresh ginger. Splash of vanilla extra and a glug of dark rum.
Mashed ripe bananas, fresh ginger, plus ground spices adding moisture and flavor and such good smells!
At this point I’m really happy this is a one-skillet recipe and I don’t need to bother with a bowl for dry ingredients. At this point I also whisk some of the flour out of the skillet and onto the counter. I think that’s just part of the deal.
See?
It’s ok. We’re still in business.
Scrape the edges of the bowl down and we’re ready for the oven.
It’s familiar and new! Like a new house with all my old stuff in it. The Muscovado and ginger gives this bread a depth of sweetness and hint of spice, bending it more towards a spice cake…. in a really good way. Glaze it or sugar the top to add some presentation flair, or impatiently cut into it because your coffee is getting cold.
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One-Skillet Dark and Stormy Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup lightly packed muscovado brown sugar (or dark brown sugar)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon dark rum
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- heaping 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Melt butter in an 9-inch cast iron skillet over medium-low heat. Melt until the crackling subsides and the butter begins to brown. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Whisk until thoroughly combined. The mixture may seem broken as the butter won’t completely absorb into the sugar just yet. Allow mixture to stand and cool for about 5 minutes.
- Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. The mixture will begin to emulsify, be glossy and no longer greasy. Whisk in the vanilla and rum. Add the mashed bananas, fresh ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground ginger and stir to combine.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir carefully until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and spread the batter evenly across the pan.
- Place in the oven and bake for 18-25 minutes until mixture is dry on top, but still slightly soft in the center. I like to slightly under-bake this cake.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if you’d like and enjoy warm.
58 Responses
Just back from eating my way through the French Quarter…still trying to rediscover my waistline! How about a post on your favorite pecan oil recipe as I brought a bottle back with me.
hmmm… you’ve got me thinking!
My neighbor sent me the link to this recipe knowing how much I love your blog but hate bananas. It’s 11 pm over here and I’m making this for him. I felt the need to bake something and I know he’ll appreciate a dark and stormy banana bread.
I, as always, appreciate reading you!
what a magic neighbor you are! truly.
banana bread in a skillet. genius. I love you, Joy! congrats on the new home!
So I’m a little bit of a newbie to cooking and was wondering if this only works with a cast iron skillet, or would a stainless steal skillet work as well? This would be a reason to go buy a cast iron skillet like right now, because I need to make these ASAP. Your recipes never fail, even for a novice baker like myself :)
Yes, cast iron skillet is great as long as it is oven proof.
Bread/cake sounds good. Could smell and taste it while you carefreely gave instructions. Your demeanor is great. Hope to read about your cooking adventures again
This looks so good and I love these pictures! It’s like peeking into your new home. Lovely as always, Joy!
Where did you get the muscovado sugar and vietnamese cinnamon? Was it local in the city?
LOVE the slice photo!
Can I transfer mixture to another dish if my pan cannot go in the oven?
yes of course!
Gosh I love your posts and the way you write. Bananas that are neglected (and respected). That! Amazing sounding recipe, will try next time the bananas are good and left. Congratulations on your new home! x
This looks SO good! I just made banana bread this weekend, but love new recipes. I’ll have to try it :)
This sounds amazing! And I love seeing a little of your new kitchen!
God this looks amazing. I’m also envious of all that counter space! What a dream.
A dark and stormy is a great cocktail. A dark and stormy banana bread sounds like an even better banana bread.
I’m so happy to hear that you’re getting the feel of your new home. Can’t wait to see pictures and hear more about it!
I love Banana bread. I just cant get enough of it. I keep looking for variations in every banana bread recipe. Adding ginger to the batter is quite interesting. I have pinned it for my weekend special recipe.
HI Joy! Would this work with a 12″ skillet? Would love to try it but our skillet is too big :( Thanks so much!
Yes, it would just be thinner and take less time to cook.
Just made it. Used light brown sugar and succanot, because that is what I had. Flavor is great. I transferred it to an earthenware bowl before plac ING it in the home, for presentation sake. Mistake. Undercooked after 45minutes. I suspect the heat from the skillet helps cook mthe bread from the bottom. Such good flavor that I will try again tomorrow.
if you haven’t watched tangled (the animated disney movie with rapunzel that came out 5ish years ago), you need to. her weapon of choice is a frying pan too! ????
I can’t wait to try this one! Just need to get some rum and fresh ginger. This looks so good!
I was pretty skeptical of this recipe but I was feeling lazy last night and I didn’t want to dirty multiple bowls. It tastes great and it wasn’t too much of a hassle to mix everything in the skillet – I report no spilled flour on my counter. I replaced the rum with a generous handful of chocolate chips. Next time I will add a third banana for extra banana flavor. Thanks Joy, for enabling my laziness!
Baked this tonight, added toasted pecans. A huge hit! Thank you!
Jooooy! Please tell us where you got those dishes. You have the BEST taste in dishes. :)
How I missed this recipe from 2016 I’ll never know but it’s saving lives in 2020. I’ve even managed to vegan-ize AND de-glutenize the bake to some modicum of decency thanks to the fact your recipe rocks to begin with. Thanks for doing what you do.