I’ve unpacked the moving boxes of the essentials: sock slippers, gin, loaf pan, spatula, and mixing bowl. I’ve managed to find the fancy candles I love, a few pictures of my family, and the face wash. The cookbooks are lined up on the book shelf, color-coded just like Shutterbean taught me.
I’m just far enough in the whole moving process to miss home. Strange because I am home. It’s just that I have to build up a familiarity to this new space. I don’t yet know its nuances.
What I do know is that I’m mostly responsible for feeling at home where I’m home. It’s a state of mind. It’s coming to understand the different shade of light. It’s the different sounds of the street. It’s the familiar smell of comfort. Banana Bread feels like home, so Banana Bread it is!
We’re not looking to reinvent the wheel here. This banana bread is more about settling in and planting roots. It’s tastes just like home to me, and so it is!
I love that banana bread comes together rather effortlessly. A bowl, fork, and spoon and we’re in business.
Good news for all of us, right?
Mashed bananas are stirred together with granulated sugar and molasses. I realized too late that I’m fresh out of brown sugar. We can make our own…. or just stir it all together with gumption.
Butter is melted until it’s golden brown and smells juuuuust nutty. I love the depth that brown butter adds to the banana bread. Extra goodness, that’s all it is.
Oh! I don’t have buttermilk either. I squeezed a big wedge of lime into a bit of milk. Buttermilk substitutions are key.
Eggs and butter into the banana mash.
No nuts. No toasted coconut. Nothing too fancy. Just cinnamon spiced, brown butter magic banana bread.
The smell that fills the kitchen is home exactly.
I thought about sharing this loaf with my neighbors, but there’s plenty of future for that. I just needed to sit in from of this warm loaf and breathe it in. The texture is dense but soft. It’s lightly cinnamon spiced and hearty in the way that feels just right in the morning. This banana bread is sweet and I find it’s best paired with a cup of milky coffee. Slice into thick wedges. No need to be coy. We’re home.
Brown Butter Banana Bread
makes 1 9×5-inch loaf
6 ounces unsalted butter, melted and browned to just over 1/2 cup of butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cup mashed banana (from about 3 medium bananas)
2 teaspoons molasses
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Butter will begin to foam and crackle as it melts. When the crackling subsides, the butter will begin to brown. Swirl the pan as the butter cooks. When the butter browns and begins to smell nutty, remove the pan from the flame and transfer the butter to a small bowl. Taking the butter out of the hot saucepan will stop the butter from overcooking and burning. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla extract, and buttermilk. Whisk in the mashed bananas and molasses. When butter has cooled, whisk in the browned butter.
Add the wet ingredients, all at once to the dry ingredients. Fold together, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to reveal any hidden pockets of flour. Fold together ingredients, but try not to over stir.
Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to rest in the pan for 15 minutes, before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Bread will last 4 days, well wrapped at room temperature. This loaf also freezes well.
Miriam Madamba
The liquor you added was missing from recent recipe post on IG. Was it whiskey or cognac? Thanks.
Abby Mallett
Hey there! I think you could add a dark rum or bourbon, but I feel like any dark liquor would do! Whatever flavor is complimentary to vanilla and browned butter would work. Happy baking! xo
Kay Day
Makers Mark bourbon
Monica
Normally I pass on recipes with comments that don’t indicate anyone has made it and their results, but since I trust Joy and this site, I made this banana bread today. It’s excellent, love the addition of the molasses giving it a deeper flavor. I usually enjoy finely chopped walnuts or pecans but I hadn’t any, and I’m not hating this at all. Thanks for another great recipe! (The Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe has been the absolute standard in my kitchen, turning me from lukewarm on chocolate chip cookies to craving them.)
Debra
Just made this today – a tasty diversion from all of the chaos and unknown going on around us. I had to improvise a little because I didn’t have all of the ingredients on hand, but it still turned out amazing! (Used maple syrup as a sub for molasses and half and half for the buttermilk).
Thank you Joy.
Stay safe everyone.
Meghan
Thanks Joy! Made during our COVID-19 quarantine today. In an effort to preserve our all-purpose stash for the next couple of weeks, we used 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour and 1.5 c all-purpose with closer to 1.5c bananas. The kids devoured it and couldn’t tell any difference from previous versions of this recipe.
Rebekah
I appreciate you making and sharing this bread this weekend. I am baking it off right now in 4 mini loaf pans, one to keep and three to share. Nothing like cinnamon-scented baked goods to foster community.
Nikki Jo
I think this may be the best banana bread I’ve ever made. I used the glaze and crumble topping from your Over Easy cookbook. Holy bananas. It’s delicious!
sinaasappeljetzt
Hi, I just want to thank you for this awesome recipe! I’ve been making it since you posted it a lot of times – just made one this morning :-) I love the addition of nutmeg and molasses, such a great flavour combination. Recently, I sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on top of the batter before baking, makes a wonderful crispy lid.
Amanda Baker
I have made this 3 times now and since my son is allergic to eggs, we’ve used the suggested substitution of ground chia seeds and water. It consistently comes out absolutely delicious. Thank you so much. Your knowledge on baking with vegan substitutions has been so helpful for us.
Mariah
I just made this. SO good!
Sandra
This is still the best banana bread recipe I’ve ever made. I have tried SO many and I keep coming back to this one. It’s the best! I wish I could buy a candle that would keep my house smelling like it does after I bake a loaf of this! Dreamy!!
Alaina
I never know how to convert a quickbread to muffins and am scared to guess. Halp!
joythebaker
It’s easy, just put it in a muffin pan! Don’t over think it.
Joanna
I have a favorite banana bread recipe I’ve been using for more than a decade and after making your version tonight, I must say that this tops it. DELICIOUS!! Best midnight snack of my life! Thank you!!!
Janet
I just made this recipe and added extra large chocolate chips! Thanks for sharing this, it made me very popular at work!
joythebaker
lovely!
Natalie
This looks amazing! Quick question: in the recipe it says to add the sugar with the dry ingredients; however, in the pictures it shows the white sugar being added to the bananas? Which should I do? Thanks!!!
joythebaker
My mistake, add it with the dry ingredients