Brown Butter Banana Bread

By Elizabeth Waterson // Jul 18, 2024 (Updated Jun 8, 2025) // Leave a Comment

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Looking for a tasty twist on traditional banana bread? This easy and delicious recipe uses brown butter for an extra nutty and flavorful treat. Perfect for breakfast or as a snack!

slices of brown butter banana bread on a white plate on a light brown surface with a striped linen.

Banana bread is one of those foods I never tire of. I love it for breakfast, a snack, dessert, its delicious any time of day. My favorite way to enjoy it is toasted with a schemer of salted butter on top. While I adore banana bread with mix ins sometimes a classic, simple bread is what I am after. This recipe calls for browned butter which creates a caramelized, nutty undertone to the banana bread, it's truly fantastic and simple.

Let's get to the recipe

Ingredients

For this brown butter banana bread recipe you will need:

Salted Butter. We are going to take the butter and cook it so it becomes brown butter. This creates a beautiful depth of flavor, the milk solids caramelize creating this nutty, caramely flavor. While a standard banana bread recipe calls for half a cup of butter we are going to use half a cup plus two more tablespoons to account for the loss of liquid while the butter cooks.
Very Ripe Bananas. You want brown, spotty, ripe bananas. These bananas are sweeter, perfect for baking. You'll need 3-4 depending on the size of your bananas, I prefer to weigh the bananas.
Sour Cream/ Greek Yogurt. This moisture bomb helps create a soft, moist, and tender banana bread. I prefer sour cream but you can use full-fat Greek yogurt.
Granulated Sugar. The sugar sweetens the banana bread and helps build the structure.
Brown Sugar. The brown sugar is used in the banana bread batter as well as topping the banana bread while it bakes.
Large Eggs. Your eggs should be at room temperature so they can evenly incorporate into the batter.
Pure Vanilla Extract. The vanilla pairs beautifully with the bananas and brown butter.
All-Purpose Flour/ Plain Flour. Make sure to measure your flour properly, I suggest weighing the flour.
Baking Soda. The baking soda is the chemical leavening agent that will help the quick bread brown and rise while baking.
Salt. The salt balances out the sweetness and enhances the other ingredients flavor profiles.

I wanted to keep this simple to highlight the brown butter but you can add a ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon or a ½ cup of chocolate chips to jazz the quick bread up!

Baking is a science and to really achieve the best results I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale. This OXO Kitchen Scale is the one I use and is also the number one recommended kitchen scale by Cook's Illustrated. Think about it -what one person scoops into a "cup" is completely different from what someone else scoops!

ingredients for brown butter banana bread in a cutting board on a light brown surface.

For ingredient quantities please reference the recipe card below. On the recipe card there is a button for US or M (Metric) measurements.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/180C and grease a 9X5 loaf pan.

In a small saucepan brown the butter, cook it over low-medium heat for a few minutes stirring frequently. The butter will start to foam up and then the foam will start to lessen and you'll smell a nutty, caramelized aroma and you'll see brown flecks at the bottom of the pot. Be careful you don't want to burn the butter. Check out my post on how to brown butter.

bananas mashed in a bowl and brown butter cooked in a metal pot on a light brown surface with a striped linen.

In a large mixing bowl add the bananas and use a potato masher or fork to mash bananas, pour in the warm brown butter and add the sour cream. Let it all sit for a couple of minutes then mix to combine.

brown butter, mashed bananas and sour cream mixed together in a glass bowl on a light brown surface with a striped linen.

Add the sugars, eggs and vanilla extract and whisk to fully combine.

wet ingredients mixed together in a glass bowl on a light brown surface with a striped linen.

Gently fold in the flour, baking soda, and salt to the wet ingredients. Stir dry ingredients just to combine. Over mixing can develop the gluten further and create a tougher banana bread.

dry ingredients added to wet ingredients and mixed together in a glass bowl on a light brown surface with a striped linen.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle optional brown sugar topping.

brown butter banana bread before and after baking on a light brown surface with a striped linen.

Bake for 50-60 minutes. or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool at least 30 minutes before removing from pan. Let cool on a wire rack. Store at room temperature unless you live in a warm climate store in the fridge.

Check out my favorite banana bread recipes.

brown butter banana bread sliced on a cutting board on a light brown surface with a striped linen.

Tips and Tricks for Success

Use room temperature ingredients so they evenly incorporate into the rest of the batter.
To keep a soft tender banana bread, don't overmix the batter.
Banana bread freezes great, once it is completely cool wrap it in plastic wrap twice, then aluminum foil once and freeze for up to three months. The three layers of protection help prevent freezer burn.
You could easily make this gluten free by swapping in a 1 for 1 gluten free all purpose flour.