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Sometimes I make something and when I taste it, I’m just like… “DAMN, I’m good!!” Brown Butter & Butterscotch Banana Bread was one of those recipes. It’s an absolute home run. SOOOO moist and delicious. I couldn’t decide whether to call this cake or bread. But I think it’s bread. I mean, it has pretty much the same amount of butter & sugar as your average banana bread recipe… I just wouldn’t call it a healthy banana bread. Omg you have to make it as soon as you can. It will not last long at your house!! It tastes like if bananas foster was bread. YUM!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Butter: We will make brown butter with this butter! (See next paragraph for more info.) I always use salted butter because that’s what I like. But you can use unsalted if you wish.
- Brown sugar: Butterscotch is made by mixing and heating brown sugar & butter together. We don’t fully make a butterscotch in this recipe, but we get a touch of butterscotchy flavor by mixing these two together. Also, brown sugar gives us a deeper flavor & more moisture than white sugar, so we like that.
- 3 very ripe bananas: Well of course we need super ripe mashed bananas for our banana bread! You could use fresh bananas, but overripe bananas are much sweeter. If your bananas are frozen, that actually works extra well for this recipe because it’ll help cool down our hot browned butter quicker.
- Eggs: Eggs give our banana bread structure and acts as a binding.
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla adds to our tasty butterscotchy flavor.
- Salt: Salt balances the sweetness in this recipe. If you are using unsalted butter, you may want to add a bit more salt to the recipe. I use regular table salt in this bread.
- All-purpose flour, baking soda, & baking powder: These ingredients are all here for science-y reasons. They help with structure, leavening, tenderizing, etc. You may be able to swap the flour for gluten-free flour alternatives, but I have not tested that.
- Butterscotch chips: It’s called Butterscotch Banana Bread for a reason!! We load it up with butterscotch chips, which are so delicious. Of course, you could use another type of chip if you want.
- Maldon salt: This is optional, but a sprinkling of flaky Maldon salt on top of this bread is soooo tasty!
Brown Butter: How to Make It & What It Is
The first step to this recipe is making the brown butter, because it needs to cool before we add the rest of the wet ingredients. If you’ve never made brown butter and you’re scared because it sounds hard, fear not. It is very easy. Melt the butter in a small pot over medium heat. At first, it will boil with big bubbles. Then, when it’s getting closer to browning, the bubbles will be small, like foam. Then the foam will start to bubble brown and when you swirl the pot, you’ll be able to see that the milk solids have browned, and that’s when you’re done.
Maybe you’re wondering what the heck is brown butter and why are we even doing this? When we heat the butter like this, the milk solids separate from the butter and any extra water will evaporate, which makes a deeper, richer tasting butter. Then, the milk solids are basically fried in the butter and they get toasty brown. It smells amazing. Like caramel. We do it because it makes our bread super extra delicious.
How to make Brown Butter & Butterscotch Banana Bread
Okay, let’s talk about how this delicious baby is made. Once the butter is browned and cooled a bit, we’ll add brown sugar. This is the beginning of making a true butterscotch, but we aren’t going all the way—just getting the flavors started to add to our bread. Mix the sugar into the butter for a few minutes on low heat. It probably won’t mix completely and that’s okay. Now we have to let it cool. The BEST option is to be using frozen bananas. You can microwave them until they’re 50–75% thawed, then pour the hot butter & sugar over. This will thaw the bananas the rest of the way while also cooling down the brown butter. But, if you don’t have frozen bananas, no worries. You just have to be a little more patient while the butter cools. The reason the butter needs to be cooled is because if it’s still piping hot when we add the eggs, the eggs will scramble and that will be bad.
Meanwhile, you can mix up the dry ingredients and preheat the oven to 425°. This may seem hot but we’re just going to bake the bread in that hot oven for 10 minutes before turning it down to 350°. The reason for this is to create a nice crispy crusty outside and also to activate the baking powder & baking soda for a lighter bread.
When the banana, butter, & sugar mixture is cooled, the brown sugar might have gotten crusty. That’s okay! Just smush the bigger chunks with a fork—if some remain it’s fine. Then add the rest of the wet ingredients: eggs & vanilla. Then we’ll mix the wet & dry ingredients, along with the butterscotch chips together and pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake, cool, and eat!!
Don’t have a loaf pan?
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Leftovers, Storage, & Freezing
Leftovers/storage: Since this butterscotch banana bread is so moist, it will keep longer in the fridge. But you can store it on the counter for a day or two. If you notice any mold growing on the bread, it’s time to trash it.
Freezing: This bread freezes great! You can freeze the whole loaf, or slice it first and then freeze with parchment paper between each slice to make it extra easy. I put frozen slices directly into the toaster to heat and crisp a bit, but the microwave works just as well!
Questions About Brown Butter & Butterscotch Banana Bread, Answered
When we heat butter, the milk solids separate from the butter and any extra water will evaporate, which makes a deeper, richer tasting butter. Then, the milk solids are basically fried in the butter and they get toasty brown. It smells amazing.
No, you don’t. You could just melt your butter in the microwave instead of browning it.
Yes, you can, though your banana bread might not be quite as moist.
You could try using 2 tablespoons of applesauce or greek yogurt instead of 1 banana. I would only try this if I had at least 2 bananas. You want your banana bread to be banana-y!
More sweet breakfast recipes…
- Chai Spiced Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
- Honey Whole Wheat Bread with Seeds
- Cardamom Pistachio Rolls with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
- Sweet & Savory Dutch Baby
What do you think—is this Brown Butter & Butterscotch Banana recipe Bread or Cake? You be the judge! Let me know what you think in the comments.
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Brown Butter & Butterscotch Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: Baking
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
If you like bananas foster, you’re going to love this banana bread. Sweet, nutty, butterscotchy deliciousness with a little salt sprinkled on top. Heaven!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
- Maldon salt (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° and grease a loaf pan.
- Brown the butter. Melt a stick of butter on medium heat in a small pot on the stove. Keep an eye on it, stirring occasionally. At first, bubbles will be big. When butter is closer to being browned, bubbles will be little and foamy. Swirl the pot so you can see if the milk solids on the bottom are looking toasted—this means you are done. Once butter is browned, turn heat to low and add ½ cup brown sugar, stirring for 2 more minutes. Let cool.
- Combine wet ingredients. In a large bowl, mash the 3 bananas, then mix in 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Once cooled, add the brown butter/sugar and mix until combined. It must be cooled or you will be making scrambled eggs! (See Notes)
- Combine dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, mix 2 cups of flour, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda, & ½ teaspoon baking powder together.
- Mix it all together! Now, mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients, adding 1 cup butterscotch chips. Mix until just combined—do not overmix.
- Bake. Pour mixture into a loaf pan and pop in the oven for 10 minutes, then turn oven down to 350° and bake 30–35 more minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool & enjoy! Let bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool the rest of the way. Sprinkle Maldon salt over top if you wish.
Notes
- Using frozen bananas works great for this recipe. Defrost the bananas in the microwave until they are 50–75% thawed. Then, pour the hot brown butter & sugar over them. This will thaw the bananas the rest of the way while also cooling down your butter & sugar quickly.
Keywords: bananas, sweet, banana bread, butterscotch, brown butter, breakfast
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