Brown Butter Banana Bread

Looking for a cozy upgrade to your classic banana bread? This Brown Butter Banana Bread is rich, nutty, and perfectly moist thanks to a secret ingredient that makes all the difference—browned butter. It’s simple to make, packed with flavor, and guaranteed to become your new go-to banana bread recipe. No mixer needed and the batter mixes up in 15 minutes or less.

 

If you’ve never baked with browned butter before, prepare to have your baking world rocked. Just a few extra minutes on the stovetop is all it takes to elevate your banana bread from good to unforgettable. Brown butter adds a deep, nutty richness that pairs perfectly with ripe bananas and a hint of cinnamon.

I’ve used brown butter in the past to seriously elevate some baked goods – like my brown butter brownies, brown butter chocolate chip cookies, brown butter pumpkin cookies, or these brown butter rice krispie treats. Browned butter just makes everything better. And now banana bread too!

For this bread we are using browned butter in the crumble topping, the batter, and the glaze. Yup – browned butter three ways! You’ll make one big batch of browned butter at the beginning and then divide it between the streusel, batter, and glaze.

This banana bread is quick to throw together—no mixer required—and uses ingredients you likely already have in your pantry. It bakes up golden brown with a tender crumb and sweet, caramel-like flavor due to the nutty brown butter that keeps you coming back for another slice.

Perfect for using up overripe bananas, gifting to friends, or enjoying with your morning coffee, this loaf fits any occasion. And yes, it freezes beautifully—if it lasts that long.

Ingredients Needed

• Unsalted butter – Browned for rich, nutty flavor. If you use salted butter, then omit the added salt. Here is my full tutorial on how to brown butter.
• All-purpose flour – Provides structure to the bread. Weighing your flour with a kitchen scale is best for accuracy. If you don’t have a scale, then spoon the flour into the cup and level it off.
• Baking soda 
• Salt 
• Cinnamon 
• Brown sugar – If you don’t have any, you can make your own homemade brown sugar.
• Granulated sugar 
• Eggs – Use room temperature eggs. Place in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before using. Here is my full tutorial on how to bring eggs to room temperature quickly.
• Very ripe bananas – The star ingredient for flavor and moisture. You want browned bananas with plenty of brown spots for maximum banana flavor. Here is my tutorial on how to brown bananas quickly. Using frozen bananas? Just thaw and drain off any excess liquid before mashing.
• Buttermilk – Do not substitute with regular milk as it will not react the same with the baking soda. If you don’t have any then make your own homemade buttermilk.
• Vanilla extract 
• Powdered sugar
• Milk – To be used in the glaze. You can use any type of milk.

How to Make Brown Butter Banana Bread

Preheat and prepare pan. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 350^oF (180^oC). Spray a 9×5” loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray or line with parchment paper.

Use a light-colored pan when browning butter so you can easily see when it turns golden. If you’re baking in a glass loaf pan add 5 minutes of baking time. If you have a smaller loaf pan, fill about 3/4 full and bake remaining batter into muffins.

Make The Browned Butter

You are going to make a big batch of browned butter that will go into the crumble topping, batter, and glaze. Yup, browned butter three ways!

In a light-colored skillet on medium-low heat, melt the butter. Continue to stir the butter. Once the butter is melted, it will begin to foam and bubble. It will also look cloudy in appearance to start and then become clear as it continues to cook.

During this step, the butter can splatter due to all that water evaporating. Stir the butter mixture and let it cook. You want to be stirring the butter and keep a close eye on the butter so it doesn’t burn. The butter will begin to foam about 5 minutes and milk solids will begin to form at the bottom of the process. As the milk solids become golden brown, you will see the butter start to turn a golden brown color as well.

The butter will begin to turn brown, but sometimes the foam makes that hard to see. So clear the foam way and check the color. If it’s a golden brown, caramel color it’s ready. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Once it’s browned, remove from the heat. Transfer to a heatproof bowl to prevent further browning. The butter can continue to cook while in the pan so it’s best to remove it from the heat and pour it to a heatproof bowl.

Make sure to add the brown bits at the bottom of the saucepan with the butter, that is where all the flavor is!

Make The Crumble Topping

Make the crumble topping. In a small bowl stir together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. 

Add the butter: Stir in ¼ cup of the browned butter and stir together until a crumbly mixture forms. Set aside.

Make The Banana Bread

Combine dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. 

Mash bananas. In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas with a fork or a potato masher.

Add wet ingredients. Add the eggs, buttermilk, browned butter and vanilla extract to the mashed bananas and whisk until combined.

Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together with a rubber spatula until just combined. Don’t overmix the batter—stir until the flour is just incorporated to avoid a tough texture.

Want to mix things up? Try adding chocolate chips or chopped walnuts for extra texture and flavor. Stir in 1/2 cup to 1 cup chips or nuts.

Bake. Spoon the batter into prepared loaf pan.  And then crumble the topping over the batter.

Bake for 60-65 minutes on a middle rack of the oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.  If the top is browning too quickly, loosely tent the loaf with foil during the last 10–15 minutes of baking.

Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely in the pan set on a wire cooling rack.

Make The Glaze

Now let’s take the banana bread to the next level! Let’s add a glaze…with even more browned butter.

In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and remaining browned butter (you should 1-2 tablespoons left). You may need to adjust consistency as needed by adding a bit more powdered sugar or thinning out with a bit of milk.

Then it’s time to drizzle. Just drizzle all that glaze goodness over the cooled bread. Slice and serve!

More Recipes To Try

If you’re craving more banana bread, be sure to try my sour cream banana bread! It’s a classic moist banana loaf.

Or try my peanut butter banana bread or banana bread cinnamon rolls for a fun twist on banana bread!