Perfect Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

This recipe started as my family’s, before I made a few adjustments. I may be biased, but I seriously believe it is the *best* banana bread recipe out there, and one of my all-time favourite recipes in general. The high brown sugar content helps to caramelize the exterior, the brown butter adds dimension, the cinnamon adds warmth, and the chocolate… Well, duh. I prefer to slice and serve warmed (a few seconds in the microwave), and topped with butter. YUM.

Some secrets to ensure your banana bread comes out perfect:

• If your loaf pan is smaller than 9.5″ x 4.5″, split the batch into 2 loaves. If you have a smaller pan and overfill, it may have a hard time baking evenly. This can result in burnt edges, and a sunken, gooey inside. Not the greatest.
• Use RIPE bananas!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (380g) ripe and mashed banana (about 3-4 medium bananas)
• 1/2 cup (100g) packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (110g) unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (130g) Greek yogurt or sour cream, room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups (180g) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup (150g) chocolate chips (plus more, to sprinkle on top)

Method

1. Brown your butter. Place butter on stovetop in a small saucepan. Stir constantly on low heat, until the butter has melted and browned (about 10 minutes). Be careful not to burn! Transfer to a mixing bowl, and ensure you scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the “browned” bits! Allow butter to slightly cool in mixing bowl (about 10 minutes).
2. Preheat oven to 425 F. Grease and line a loaf pan (mine is 9.5″ x 4.5″ pan).
3. Add sugars to the mixing bowl, along with your browned butter. Mix slowly until combined, and then mix on high (or vigorously, if by hand) to really “cream” together the mixture. Add in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Continue mixing until mixture appears lighter in colour. Add in vanilla extract, Greek yogurt, and mashed bananas. Mix until well combined, and no lumps of yogurt remain.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
5. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Cover bowl with tea towel, and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
7. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle a handful of chocolate chips on top.
8. Bake at 400 for 5 minutes, and then while keeping the oven door closed, reduce heat to 325 F and bake for an additional 55-65 minutes (or until a toothpick can be inserted into the loaf and comes out clean).
9. Allow banana bread to cool completely before removing from pan.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Please leave a comment if you have any questions or feedback 🙂