Banana Bread is something everyone loves and has about a dozen recipes for. I have always made an old recipe using greek yogurt, which closely mirrored this version, which includes the incredible addition of browned butter that this it over the top. IMO, it’s the ultimate! Slightly tweaked from the indomitable Molly Bay’s version from her cookbook “Cook This Book”, which is a never ending source of inspiration.
This is a flexible recipe. I’ve used several kinds of yogurt (vanilla, plain, greek, non-fat, whole milk) and even sour cream in a pinch – it all works. It also transitions seamlessly from bread to muffins – I sometimes use mini loaf pans as well. I think it would travel well for care packages too!
Brown Butter Yogurt Banana Bread with Dark Chocolate and Pecans
A deliciously moist banana bread laced with dark chocolate and pecans
Ingredients
- 4 over-ripe bananas
- 10 Tbsp butter (1 1/4 sticks)
- 2 cups plus 2 Tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt (I use whole milk plain)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup chopped dark chocolate chocolate chips work great too
- 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a (9 x 5) loaf pan with softened butter, and line with a piece of parchment paper for easy removal after baking. (You can also make this into 16 muffins)
- Brown the Butter: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling and stirring frequently as it slowly turns golden in color as the milk solids brown - about 6 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Mix the Dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups plus 2 Tbsp flour, the baking soda and kosher salt.
- In another bowl, mash the bananas with a potato masher or a fork, until they are smooth in consistency. Add to that, the brown sugar, vanilla, eggs, yogurt and cooled brown butter. Whisk until everything is combined. Then fold in the dry ingredients, being careful to not overmix. When combined, fold in 1 cup of chopped dark chocolate, and 1 cup chopped pecans (both optional).
- Pour the deliciously golden batter into the prepared pan, and bake in the center rack for about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Alternatively, this recipe works great for muffins (makes about 16 muffins) which should take 18-20 minutes to bake.
Notes
This recipe is slightly adapted from the indomitable Molly Baz, whose recipe can be found in her cookbook called "Cook This Book"! Thanks Molly!
I have made this recipe with both plain and vanilla yogurt, as well as sour cream - all of them work interchangeably and yield delicious results!
