My Best Banana Bread

This is a rich and flavorful banana bread with complex toffee nuttiness thanks to the browned butter and blend of white whole wheat and all-purpose flour. You can use all whole-wheat flour, but the bread will be denser. The walnuts aren’t really optional, they perfume the bread while it bakes and complement the butter and wheat flour.

I really hope you make this for yourself or someone you care about. After making hundreds of “best banana bread” recipes, this is the one I’ve arrived at.

Recipe Notes:

This is not a low-effort recipe. Toasting the walnuts and browning the butter are optional but the final result is not the same if you skip these steps.
This recipe uses a combination of butter and oil; butter is for flavor and oil is for moisture. You can just use 1/3 cup of all melted/browned butter, melted coconut oil, or oil if you want to simplify.
Chocolate chips aren’t necessary. I actually find them distracting but if you want add them no one’s stopping you.

Ingredients

Servings: 1 loaf or 12 muffins

Wet

3 medium ripe bananas (~330ml), mashed, plus 1 to lie on top (optional but nice)
1/4 (56g) cup browned butter
2 (30ml) tbs vegetable, canola, or grapeseed oil
3/4 cup packed (160g) brown sugar
- you can reduce to 1/2 – 2/3 cup if you like it less sweet
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, real or imitation

Dry

3/4 cup (90g) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (90g) white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt/sea salt or 1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (57g) chopped walnuts, toasted
- 2/3 cup whole walnuts makes to 1/2 cup chopped

Step-by-step Instructions

Step 1 - prepare equipment

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper cut to fit, or spray with nonstick spray.

Step 2 - prepare ingredients

If using whole walnuts, chop or crush in a bag. Toast nuts in a toaster oven or in a pan over medium-heat until fragrant and a few shades darker. Be careful and vigilant not to burn the nuts.
Brown the butter over medium-high heat in a light-colored saucepan. Once it foams up, keep stirring to watch the color. Don’t walk away. It’s done when it smells nutty, and has turned a toffee-color. You don’t have to go as brown as I did.
In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk together thoroughly.
Mash bananas in a large bowl and pour in browned butter. Careful, it may sizzle and pop. Add the oil, sugar, yogurt, vanilla extract, eggs and whisk together

Step 3 - combine and bake

5. Pour dry ingredients and toasted walnuts into wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, gently stir and fold flour mixture into wet ingredients. Do not over-mix. lumpy batter and small spots of dry flour are expected. If your batter is smooth, you’ve over-done it.
6. Scrape batter into loaf pan.
7. Slice 4th banana in half lengthwise, and lay on top in an offset parenthesis pattern. I used two mini pans so I used one half for each.
8. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Start checking once you smell the banana bread.

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