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Moist & Soft Brown Butter Banana Bread.
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Moist & Soft Brown Butter Banana Bread

This brown butter banana bread recipe yields a moist, soft, and not-too-dense texture! This is the perfect banana bread recipe that uses those last two bananas & leftover sour cream in your kitchen. 
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 20 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: banana bread with 2 bananas, brown butter banana bread
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 306kcal
Author: Alyssa

Equipment

  • 1 silicone spatula
  • 1 small sauce pot for browning the butter
  • 2 mixing bowls
  • 1 9 x 5" loaf baking pan

Ingredients

  • ½ cup unsalted butter [113g]
  • 1 cup white granulated sugar [235g]
  • 2 ea whole eggs, room temperature [100g]
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled [215g]
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ¾ cup sour cream [195g]
  • 1 cup overripe medium-sized bananas (x2), mashed [230g]
  • ½ cup pecans, chopped [70g]

Instructions

For the Brown Butter:

  • Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9x5" loaf pan and line with a long piece of parchment paper to allow the extra to hang over each long side of the pan. Set aside.
  • In a small pot, melt the butter completely (½ cup or 1 stick) on medium heat. Let the butter cook, stirring constantly, until the butter gives off a nutty, fragrant buttery smell and becomes a golden-brown color. You should the small bits of milk solids at the bottom of the pot become toasted.
  • Remove the browned butter from the heat and add to a large, heat-proof mixing bowl. Let cool until bowl is simply warm to the touch.

For the Brown Butter Banana Bread:

  • Once your brown butter is cool, add the sugar (½ cup) and stir together with a spatula.
  • Add in the whole eggs (x2) and vanilla extract (1 tsp). Mix until combined.
  • Next, add the all-purpose flour (1 ½ cups), baking soda (1 tsp), salt (½ tsp), ground cinnamon (½ tsp), and ground nutmeg (¼ tsp). Stir into your butter mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go, until smooth and no dry lumps remain.
  • In a small separate bowl, mash the two peeled, overripe bananas (medium-sized) with a fork.
  • Fold in the mashed bananas (1 cup), sour cream (¾ cup), and chopped pecans (½ cup) into the batter, scraping the sides/bottom of the bowl again. Once you no longer see streaks of banana or sour cream, you're good!
  • Transfer the batter to the greased 9x5" pan you prepared earlier. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean or has a few moist crumbs. (Add a loose piece of aluminum foil on top of your banana bread if you see the top is getting too dark!)
  • Let the banana bread cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes before carefully inverting it out onto a wire rack to cool completely (if you can wait that long!)

Video

Notes

  • This recipe uses baking soda, NOT baking powder. These are two different ingredients and can impact the quality of your bake.
  • Keep a close eye on your butter when browning it! Even after you've finished browning your butter, it will continue to brown sitting in the hot pot so be sure to transfer the brown butter to a separate mixing bowl to cool.
  • If, after 40 minutes or so, you notice the top of your brown butter banana bread is getting too dark, quickly cover the banana bread with a piece of aluminum foil and then return it to the oven so it can finish the baking process without getting any darker. (I cover my banana bread with foil after 45 minutes and let it finish baking covered.)
  • Feel free to substitute the chopped pecans for walnuts if you prefer. Or if you're not a fan of either, you can also choose to omit them completely.