Soft and Buttery Brown Butter Banana Bread

By Elizabeth Waterson // Jul 18, 2024 (Updated Nov 9, 2026) // 2 Comments

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This Brown Butter Banana Bread is incredibly moist, soft, and packed with sweet banana flavor and rich, nutty notes from golden brown butter. Made with ripe bananas, sour cream, and a combination of brown and granulated sugar, it's everything you love about classic banana bread with an extra buttery upgrade!

slices of brown butter banana bread on a white plate on a light brown surface with a striped linen. — Classic banana bread, but make it brown butter. Because sometimes a little extra butter is exactly what you need!

Featured Review

"Excellent. Added brown sugar and sesame seeds on parchment paper lined pan. Sprinkled on the top also. Baked well tasted great."
Steve

Jump to Recipe·5 from 1 review

I started with my tried-and-true Classic Banana Bread recipe and gave it a brown butter makeover! Since I've made so many brown butter recipes over the years, I knew from the beginning that I'd need to increase the butter to account for the water that evaporates during browning. I also love using a combination of brown and granulated sugar because the caramel-like flavor of brown sugar pairs beautifully with the nutty brown butter. And while I love a banana bread loaded with mix-ins, I intentionally kept this version plain so the brown butter flavor could really shine. Sometimes simple is best, especially when butter is involved! Don't miss my Brown Butter Zucchini Cake another simple and delicious cake.

Bananas, Brown Butter & Everything Nice!

Salted Butter: I use 10 tablespoons instead of the usual 8 because some of the water evaporates when the butter browns. Those golden toasted milk solids are what give the bread its delicious nutty flavor.
Very Ripe Bananas: The browner and spottier, the better! I recommend weighing your peeled bananas to get the correct amount rather than relying on the number of bananas.
Sour Cream: My favorite moisture bomb! It helps create a beautifully soft, tender banana bread. Full-fat Greek yogurt is also listed as an alternative.
Brown & Granulated Sugar: I love combining these two sugars. Brown sugar adds a deeper, caramel-like flavor that pairs especially well with the nutty brown butter.
Brown Sugar Topping: An optional sprinkle of brown sugar over the batter before baking adds a little extra sweetness.

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.

From Golden Butter to Banana Bread Bliss

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

Check out my detailed post on how to brown butter.

brown butter, mashed bananas and sour cream mixed together in a glass bowl on a light brown surface with a striped linen. — Add the brown butter to mashed bananas and sour cream then whisk to combine.

wet ingredients mixed together in a glass bowl on a light brown surface with a striped linen. — Mix in the eggs, vanilla, and sugars.

dry ingredients added to wet ingredients and 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.

brown butter banana bread before and after baking on a light brown surface with a striped linen. — Pour batter into pan, sprinkle brown sugar on top and bake.

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.

A Few Tricks for Better Brown Butter Banana Bread

Start with a little extra butter. After making countless brown butter recipes over the years, I've learned that some of the water in butter evaporates as it browns. That's why I use 10 tablespoons instead of the usual 8. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to account for that moisture loss while getting all that delicious nutty brown butter flavor!
Watch your butter carefully. Brown butter can go from perfectly golden to burnt pretty quickly! Keep stirring and watch for golden-brown flecks at the bottom of the pan and a delicious nutty aroma. Those toasted milk solids are where so much of the flavor comes from, so make sure they go into the batter too.
Cool the butter before adding the eggs. I pour the warm brown butter over the mashed bananas and sour cream, then let everything sit for a couple of minutes before mixing. This helps cool the butter so it's not too hot when the eggs go in. We want banana bread, not scrambled eggs!
Use very ripe bananas. I always recommend bananas with plenty of brown spots for baking. They're sweeter and have a stronger banana flavor. I also prefer weighing my peeled bananas so I know I'm using the correct amount every time.
Don't overmix the batter. Once you add the flour, baking soda, and salt, gently fold everything together just until combined. Overmixing can develop too much gluten and leave you with a tougher loaf instead of a soft, tender banana bread.
Let the brown butter shine! I intentionally left this banana bread plain because I wanted the rich, nutty brown butter flavor to be the star. I love chocolate chips and nuts in banana bread, but sometimes simple really is better!

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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