Brown Butter Banana Bread (High-Altitude Friendly!)
This brown butter banana bread is rich, nutty, and impossibly moist — made with browned butter and ultra-ripe bananas for a flavor that's miles beyond classic. Tested and perfected for high altitude baking, but also perfect at sea level.
Equipment
- Stand mixer optional
- Glass loaf pan recommended for high altitude
Ingredients
Brown Butter
- ½ cup +1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Banana Bread Batter
- ½ cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 2 cups mashed overripe bananas from about 4 large bananas
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (125g) whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Brown the butter: Cut butter into tablespoon-sized pieces. Heat a light-colored skillet over medium heat. Melt until foaming, then cook 2–3.5 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden-amber and nutty-smelling. Pour into a cool bowl and cool 10–15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x4-inch loaf pan.
- Cream the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cooled brown butter together until smooth and fluffy.
- Mix in eggs until smooth and light yellow-orange.
- Mix in Greek yogurt or sour cream, mashed bananas, and vanilla. Batter will look curdled — this is normal.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Add dry ingredients to wet and mix just until the flour streaks disappear. Do not overmix.
- Pour into the prepared loaf pan. Bake 55–75 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.
- Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
Notes
- Weigh your flour — 125g per cup for accurate results.
- Use the most overripe bananas possible — the spottier and blacker they are, the better.
- Use a light-colored pan for browning butter so you can see the color change.
- Don't overmix once the flour goes in — mix just until combined.
- High altitude: Recipe is tested at 5,200 feet. Use a glass loaf pan for best results. No adjustments needed.
- Sea level: Works perfectly with no changes needed.
- Chocolate chip variation: Fold in ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips before baking.
- Muffin variation: Divide into a 12-cup muffin tin and bake 20–25 minutes at 350°F.
- Storage: Wrapped well, the bread keeps at room temp for 3–4 days; in the fridge for 1 week; in the freezer for 3 months (whole or sliced). See the blog post section above for more information.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/12 of the recipe (1 slice of banana bread)Calories: 249kcalCarbohydrates: 37gProtein: 5gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 34mgSodium: 174mgFiber: 2gSugar: 17g
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