Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Moist chocolate chip banana bread slices

5 from 7 votes

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

A moist, easy brown butter chocolate chip banana bread recipe that will be the only recipe you reach for once you've tried it.

Prep Time15

Cook Time1 15

Total Time1 30

Course: Baking

Cuisine: British

Servings: servings

Author: Margie Nomura

Ingredients

13.5 oz VERY ripe and mashed banana 3-4 medium bananas; plus 1 more banana for decoration
4 oz unsalted butter 1 stick
3.5 oz light brown sugar about 1/2 cup
3.5 oz superfine sugar (caster sugar) about 1/2 cup
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
4.5 oz thick Greek yogurt about generous 1/2 cup
1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
6.3 oz all-purpose flour (plain flour) about generous 1 1/3 cups
1/2 tsp salt
5 oz dark chocolate roughly chopped, plus a handful more for sprinkling on top (or use chocolate chips)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 356°F (180°C/160°C fan) and grease and line a 9x5 inch (23x13 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper.
Begin by browning your butter by melting the butter in a pan over medium heat. It will go from melted to bubbling loudly before going quiet and foamy. Keep stirring until it turns a light amber color overall, but the flecks are dark brown, and you can smell chestnuts. (Scroll up for helpful images on this process)
Once browned, pour into a bowl to cool down.
In a bowl, whisk together the melted brown butter and sugars for a minute until thick.
Add in your mashed bananas, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla.
Once all of your wet ingredients are mixed together, gently stir in the flour, baking soda (bicarb), and salt. Then, fold in the chocolate chips.
Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Slice the extra banana in half lengthwise and lay it with the cut side up. Sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top if you like.
Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs. Let it cool completely before removing from the pan. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Video

Notes

Make-ahead and storage

To store: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days.

To heat: Serving at room temperature is delicious, but I sometimes like to pop a slice in the microwave to warm it through and melt the chocolate chips.

To freeze: Cool the cake completely and wrap tightly in plastic wrap with a layer of foil on top. Place in the freezer for 3 months. Defrost at room temperature, then store in an airtight container.

More quick tips

Serving suggestion: This banana bread is delicious served as it is, or with some whipped brown butter. Or toast it lightly in a pan and serve with butter and some chopped toasted pecans. Or serve with a spoon of yogurt and a drizzle of peanut butter or caramel sauce. So good.

Brown bananas: You will need around four very ripe bananas. When I have bananas going brown in my kitchen, and I know they are past the point of being eaten as a snack, I throw them straight in the freezer. Just defrost when you want to bake, and you have the ripe bananas you always need for a recipe like this.

If the bananas you have aren't ripe but you still want to make this, you can heat the oven to 338°F (170°C/150°C fan). Lay bananas on a tray in their skins, and place in the oven. Bake for 10–30 minutes, depending on how ripe the bananas are. Keep checking them until totally brown. Once done, remove from the oven, cool slightly, then peel the bananas, mash them, and add to the recipe as stated. This mimics ripe bananas as best as possible, although a proper ripe banana is best.

Nutrition