Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
the best banana bread with brown butter and chocolate chips
Ingredients
- 5 large, ripe bananas
- 10 Tbsp butter plus more for greasing the pan
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt
- 2 xl eggs
- 2 cups plus 2 Tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp packed dark brown sugar (divided)
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 2 cups chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 × 5-inch loaf pan with butter and line it with parchment paper.
- Brown the butter: Cut 10 Tbsp butter into several pieces and place them in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Melting the butter in smaller pieces helps it brown more evenly. Cook, swirling the saucepan frequently, until the butter foams up, the foam dies down, and the milk solids turn deeply golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Let cool.
- Mix your dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour, 1½ teaspoons baking soda, and 1½ teaspoons kosher salt.
- Combine your wet ingredients:
- ✦ Peel 4 ripe bananas, break them into thirds, and place in a large bowl. Using a fork or potato masher, mash the bananas until they are a very thick, mostly homogeneous pulp. Save the fifth banana for topping the bread just before baking.
- ✦ Whisk in 1⁄3 cup greek yogurt, 2 eggs, 1 cup dark brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until the mixture is homogeneous, about 1 minute.
- ✦ Whisk the cooled butter into the wet ingredients, using a spatula to scrape any bits that are stuck to the pan!
- Combine and bake:
- ✦ Combine the wet and dry ingredients, and then fold in the chocolate chips.
- ✦ Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan, evening it out with the back of a spoon or a spatula. Peel the last banana and cut it in half lengthwise. Arrange both halves of the banana cut-sides up on top of the batter. Sprinkle the remaining 2 Tbsp of brown sugar evenly over the batter and sliced banana. This sugar will caramelize on the bananas in the oven.
- ✦ Bake until deeply browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan slightly before using the parchment overhang to remove it from the pan.
Notes
This recipe is adapted from a Molly Baz Banana Cake recipe I tore out of a magazine a long time ago - it was a good rip.