Buttermilk Banana Bread — This homemade banana bread recipe is made with buttermilk and browned butter, which makes it super flavorful. Top it with a schmear of strawberry butter and dig in!
Moist Buttermilk Banana Bread
Are there enough B’s in that title for you? I can think of more. Brown sugar, beautiful, bouncy, beyond good.
Anytime you take the tenderizing and fluffing effects of buttermilk, combined with the richness, nuttiness, and depth of browned butter, add sweet ripe bananas, cinnamon, vanilla, and brown sugar, the results won’t be bad. In fact, you’ll be happy when your bananas start to turn brown!
Although I would not change a thing about my go-to Banana Bread with Vanilla Browned Butter Glaze, I had some leftover buttermilk after making some Carrot Cake Loaves and it had bread-making written all over it. So I decided to deviate from my usual recipe with this.
Normally I use yogurt or Greek yogurt in my homemade banana bread and using buttermilk is different, yet the same. They’re both cultured milks and tenderize and moisten the bread, but buttermilk seems to make it fluffier, whereas yogurt (or sour cream) makes it denser. Both make it scrumptious.
Kerrygold was nice enough to send me some butter and it’s burning a hole in my refrigerator. I’m inventing recipes that use butter, just to use butter. And buttermilk. Help.
The bread is full of rich flavor. The bananas are complemented by the browned butter and it really adds another dimension, and it’s something that the more I make with it, the less I want to make without it.
Butter, buttermilk, brown sugar, bananas. All those B’s add moisture and softness, which is the only way I want banana bread, or any kind of bread or doughy pastry. Who says, oh I would love to have a dry, hard, cardboard-tasting muffin for breakfast? Oh wait, I know. The people who like biscotti. This bread is the opposite. So bouncy and springy.
I love the big crack that formed down the center from the steam as it escaped while baking. The crust that’s right near the crack, which is all shiny and smooth, is the bread equivalent of a muffin-top. I love that part and would love to dismantle the loaf, just for those parts.
What’s in This Buttermilk Banana Bread?
For this banana bread recipe with buttermilk, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Large eggs
- Buttermilk
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Ground cinnamon
- Bananas
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
And for the homemade strawberry butter, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Strawberry preserves
Many banana bread recipes call only for granulated sugar, but I like to add a bit of brown sugar to boost both the moisture content, softness, and overall flavor.
I also can’t imagine not including vanilla and cinnamon in my banana bread. Any sweet bread, quickbread, muffin, pancake, waffle, pastry, or danish is fair game for vanilla and cinnamon.
I love both of them, probably more than the average person, but I didn’t go overboard. They just round out and complement the existing flavors rather than adding any telltale taste.
How to Make Buttermilk Banana Bread
I started by browning butter. I’ve talked at length about how to brown butter in here and here. It’s a three- to four-minute process of heating the butter over medium heat, and after the butter melts, stops being noisy, foaming and hissing at you, tiny brown flecks will appear. That’s crunchtime.
Remove the pan from the heat while continuing to stir or swirl the pan so that the butter doesn’t continue to cook and go from browned to burnt. Pour the browned butter into a large mixing bowl and to it add the sugars, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, cinnamon, and whisk until it’s smooth.
Stir in the bananas along with the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. I didn’t add salt, because buttermilk is already salty, but add salt to taste if desired. If you’re using salted butter (I used unsalted), you may wish to omit the salt because between salted butter, salty buttermilk, and added salt, you could end up very thirsty.
Stir everything together and then divide the fluffy, golden batter into two 8-by-4-inch loaf pans. Baking the batter in various assortments of mini loaf pans, muffin pans, or in a Bundt pan would all work.
Baking times will vary based on the sizes used. I baked at 350F for 37 minutes for one loaf, and 40 minutes for the other. One had a little more batter in it than the other and my oven runs hotter on one side than the other.
Bake until domed, golden, and a toothpick comes out fairly clean. It’s banana bread, so it’s not going to come out perfectly dry.
How to Make Strawberry Butter
While the bread baked, I combined softened butter with strawberry preserves and whipped them vigorously by hand for strawberry butter.
Of course, you could just put a layer of butter on your bread, then top with a layer of jam, but something about whipping the butter and aerating it, and having it coat the strawberries made the combo taste better than if I kept them separate. I told you I’m making things with butter, just to use butter.
Do I Have to Brown the Butter?
Technically, no. In my usual banana bread recipe, I use melted butter. Although regular melted butter is fine, the whopping four minutes it takes to brown the butter first is highly recommended because it adds unparalleled depth, richness, and flavor.
Can I Make This Recipe with a Buttermilk Substitute?
If you don’t have buttermilk on hand and don’t want to buy it for a recipe that calls for a small amount, you can make a cheater’s version by adding one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to one scant cup of milk.
Let it stand for about 10 minutes. The milk will sour, and then use it as needed in place of buttermilk. I wouldn’t suggest this homemade buttermilk for a fancy cake, but for 3/4 cup for a loaf of banana bread, it’s perfectly fine.
Tips for Making Buttermilk Banana Bread
The darker your bananas are, the sweeter the bread will be, but they don’t have to be pitch black and on their last leg. Your bread will be extra luxurious if they’re extra dark, but sometimes it’s hard to wait for them to get to that point when you just want to bake.
If you like extra banana-ey banana bread, consider using 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas. In doing so, you may need to increase the flour by one-quarter cup, for 2 cups total, give or take.
Also, I generally shy away from baking powder because I can usually taste the chemical components in the finished product and it makes things almost too light and airy for my taste. But it’s an obvious choice in a recipe that uses buttermilk because baking powder and buttermilk react to form big, fluffy, puffy dough like a fluffy stack of buttermilk pancakes. In turn, I reduced the amount of baking soda I generally add by half.
Although you probably could use one 9-by-5-inch pan for this buttermilk banana bread recipe, by looking at the volume of batter, and knowing that buttermilk-based batters rise quite a bit, I knew two pans was a safer choice. I didn’t want to press my luck and have to clean my oven. Or worse yet, waste butter and buttermilk to the bottom of my oven.
Plus, with two smaller loaves, you can freeze one and later when you unthaw it, you can relive the party, minus the work. Or give the second loaf away to someone special. Or happily eat both loaves within a few days.
More Banana Bread Recipes:
- Pineapple Banana Bread — This Banana Pineapple Breadis incredibly moist and is ever so slightly coconut flavored thanks to the coconut oil in the batter.
- Six-Banana Banana Bread — Not sure what to do with overripe bananas you have on hand? Make this Six-Banana Banana Bread! This is the best banana bread recipe EVER!
- Brown Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread — Super moist blueberry banana bread made with Greek yogurt and dark brown sugar. Smear some homemade blueberry butter onto a slice of this blueberry brown sugar banana bread and prepare to fall in love!
- Cream Cheese-Filled Banana Bread – Banana bread that’s like having cheesecake baked in! Soft, fluffy, easy and tastes ahhhh-mazing!!
- Zucchini Banana Bread — It’s just sweet enough to taste like a dessert and not like you’re eating vegetables. It really is the BEST zucchini bread recipe!!
Pin This Recipe
Browned Butter Buttermilk Banana Bread with Strawberry Butter
This buttermilk banana bread recipe is made with browned butter, which makes it super flavorful. Top it with a schmear of strawberry butter and dig in!
Ingredients
Bread
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), browned
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 large ripe bananas)*
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
Strawberry Butter
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, well softened
- 2 to 4 tablespoons strawberry preserves (or another favorite jam, jelly, or preserves)
Instructions
Make the Bread
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray two 8-by-4-inch loaf pans with floured cooking spray; set aside. Bread may be baked in one 9-by-5-inch pan at your own risk; or bake as muffins, mini loaves, or in a Bundt pan, adjusting baking times accordingly.
- In a heavy-bottomed large pot or skillet, melt 1/2 cup butter over medium-low heat, stirring nearly continuously or swirling the pan. Butter will melt, foam, turn clear, golden, turn brown, and will then smell nutty. As soon at the butter begins to turn brown, take the pan off the heat, and continue to stir for about 1 minute, to ensure carryover heat doesn’t continue to cook and subsequently burn the already browned butter. Pour butter in large mixing bowl.
- To the butter, add the eggs, buttermilk, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, and whisk to combine.
- Add the bananas and stir to incorporate. Increasing mashed bananas to 1 1/2 cups and also increasing flour to 2 cups is optional if you prefer more intensely banana-flavored banana bread.
- Add the flour, baking power, baking soda, optional salt (buttermilk is already salted, and if using salted butter, and then adding salt, bread could become too salty so use caution here), and stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix or bread will be tougher as the gluten will over-develop.
- Turn batter out into prepared pans, smooth tops lightly with a spatula, and bake for 35 to 42 minutes (I baked 37 mins for 1 loaf, 40 mins for the other), or until top is golden and set, and a wooden skewer, cake tester, or knife inserted in the center comes out mostly clean (banana bread is gooey and it won’t come out perfectly clean). If bread is browning too fast on the top, you may wish to lower your oven temperature to 325F in the second half of cooking or tent the pan with foil although I don’t suspect this will be an issue.
- Allow bread to cool in pan for at least 10 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling. Bread will keep for up to 1 week airtight at room temperature (I wrap my fully cooled bread in plasticwrap, then I place it in a gallon-sized Ziplock). Second loaf may be frozen for up to 6 months.
Make the Strawberry Butter
- Combine 2 to 4 tablespoons butter with preserves and whip vigorously until combined and fluffed. The softer the butter is, the easier it will be to whip. Quantity may be doubled, tripled, etc. based on need. Store strawberry-butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
*The darker your bananas are, the sweeter your bread will turn out.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 219Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 43mgSodium: 101mgCarbohydrates: 35gFiber: 1gSugar: 21gProtein: 3g
Even More Quick Bread Recipes:
Pumpkin Banana Bread with Browned Butter Cream Cheese Glaze — I will never tire of pumpkin recipes and this one pairs pumpkin bread with banana bread for a soft, tender loaf that’s subtly pumpkin and molasses flavored
Carrot Zucchini Bread — The bread is soft, tender, uber-moist, dense enough to be satisfying, but still light. It’s just sweet enough to taste like a dessert and not like you’re eating vegetables.
Apple Fritter Bread — The bread tastes as decadent as the apple fritters of my childhood, no deep frying required and it’s more like cake disguised as bread.
Carrot Apple Bread — This is carrot cake that’s been infused with apples and baked as a loaf. It’s an easy, no mixer recipe that goes from bowl to oven in minutes.
Tried this on a whim today (looking up things to do with leftover buttermilk!) and enjoyed the results. The recipe made exactly twelve muffins that took about 19 minutes to bake. I subbed in 1/2 c of whole wheat pastry flour and cut back on the sugar because I like less sweet muffins and they were lovely. Thank you.
Thanks for trying this on a whim and glad you’re so pleased! Love that you made it as muffins (12 exactly, how nice!) and that you made some modifications that worked out great for you!
The bread and strawberry butter looks so pretty!
I have been looking for a new banana bread recipe, as the one I make uses sour cream and is, therefore, tangy. That’s fine, and my family loves it. But I wanted to try something different. This bread was delicious! And I’m happy to say this recipe is a keeper!
I’m so glad to know that you love this bread and that it’s a keeper for you! I am a huge banana bread fan and this is one of my faves as well. I also recently started a banana bread board. Most of my own recipes (I have about 25+ for banana bread) are on it plus others
http://www.pinterest.com/averie/banana-bread/
Do you think if I used your Vanilla Brown Butter Glaze on this it would be too much (and will they wrap and travel well with the glaze?)? I want to make gifts, but I think I may skip the butter and glaze instead. I think. It was hard choosing one of your banana bread recipes.
Just made this and it is AMAZING. I subbed 3/4 c of wheat flour and used 1.5 cups bananas, and it is so fluffy and moist and has such a great flavor from the browned butter. I also added some blueberries I had on hand.
Thanks so much!!
Thanks for coming back to LMK you made it and that the wheat flour sub worked just fine. Mmm, blueberries sound great too! Thanks for trying out my recipe!
Beautiful. I love the idea of strawberry butter with this delicious looking loaf. Your plates are so pretty xx
Thanks, Rachel. It was a thrift store find, the wood board…for like $2 bucks!
Strawberry butter? Where has that been my entire life?!
I’ve baked with buttermilk before, but I’ve never made browned butter.
Really? Oh Jolene you’d love it! It’s so you!
Oh wow this looks divine. Oh and strawberry butter??!?! Who knew this existed! I love it!
It’s funny, I just had strawberry butter for the first time this weekend (I know, I know…) on pumpkin pancakes, of all things (drizzled in peach honey syrup of all things). I’m normally a flavor purist in that I’ll make plain pancakes and make a strawberry sauce or pumpkin pancakes with maple syrup, but would have never thought to mix the flavors. I did. It worked, so that obviously a) got me hooked on strawberry butter b) made me more open minded about flavor combinations and c) made me wonder why I had never thought to combine other flavors like strawberry and banana, especially after seeing this gorgeous post! I also love that you made the banana bread with browned butter. It took me a while to be okay with nuts in my baked goods; I like the nuttiness, but would prefer the soft texture not to be interrupted with crunchy bits.
I love combining flavors and blending things and glad you’re on board with some new finds and more open-minded to new things and combos! I love the nuttiness of browned butter, and I do like nuts by themselves, but I always call it rocks in my cookies when I chomp into a nut. haha!
Just made this delicious bread today and my boys are currently enjoying their second slice for dessert! I loved the crispy sugary top – tasted just like a muffin top and, yes, I wanted to eat just the entire top of the loaf first :) I didn’t have time to make the strawberry butter but will be bringing some with me tomorrow when I share the extra loaves at our playdate. I made three mini loaves (5.75″ x 3″) and they still took 35 min. It probably would’ve been better to use a tblsp. or two less in each loaf for appearance sake. Luckily I keep a supply of powdered buttermilk in my fridge for just these baking occasions – I love that I can make just as much as I need when I need it. Thanks for the recipe, Averie!
Angela thanks for the great field report and happy to hear you loved it. The top is so muffintop-like, isn’t it! Glad yours turned out with that sort of taste-sensation as well. Loved that top :) And the 3 mini loaves sounds cute and fun and good to know they still took 35 mins. San Diego is so dry, things take a little less here I think in general. And I have been meaning to get some powdered buttermilk – glad you know you like it. My own groc store doesn’t carry it but am going to be at the one that does later in the week. Thanks for LMK you do like it!
So why have I never thought of doing a flavored butter with banana bread?! You just opened up a whole new world for me Averie!
And it’s a great way to make use of that last bit in the jar…throw it into some butter :)
That is the prettiest butter I have ever seen. Everything about this recipe is just amazing. And I adore that cutting board–so cute! :)
It was a thrift store find for $2 bucks last year! I broke it out for this photo shoot and everyone seems to love that little board!
Oh yum, love browned butter just about anything! Adoring your photos on this post, and love that cutting board too. I think I want to try a bananas foster bread next :)
Btw what plugin are you using for your recipes?
Ziplist. You have to sign up with them and then go from there! :)
yeah the banana bread recipe that i specifically requsted on your other post is here ;-) LOL yeah….and I just got some strawberry jam so this is going to be perfect to try…I love the wood board you have the bread on that is so pretty. just love the photos…and now I know to keep both loaves for myself. :-)
Yes here’s that post! And thanks for the compliments (and again for that post you wrote about the cookies) and if you do try this banana bread, LMK. I will say, my alltime, alltime fave banana bread is this one
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/08/banana-bread-with-vanilla-browned-butter-glaze.html Something about it is very hard to beat. This one is good but that one is my fave :) But it uses a few things not found in this one…really they are both good. You can’t go wrong!
Hi. My name is Ashley, and I am a banana bread fanatic. This looks awesome, Averie–and with that strawberry buttered slathered on top?! Holy moly, I love you.
Well we can be banana bread fanatics together then b/c I love the stuff! I have like 10 recipes for it on my site :)
I love using buttermilk when I have it on hand. It just makes everything so much more moist and delectable!
Yummmm…Avery that looks fantastic! I could go for some right now :)
Seriously, your breads just keep getting better!!! Love the strawberry butter, I think my kids would love that on waffles and pancakes. Quite perfect for Valentine’s Breakfast!
YUM!!! I am always on the search for the best banana bread recipe and I can’t wait to try this one!!! Looks delicious!
If I’m being honest, while I do like this buttermilk recipe, my “The Best Banana Bread Ever” recipe is this one. It’s just super special – something about it makes me so happy, every time.
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/08/banana-bread-with-vanilla-browned-butter-glaze.html
Best browned banana bread butter by buckets!!
Nice B’s :)
Beautiful photos, Averie! I’d love to borrow that adorable cutting board sometime!! :D Normally banana bread does not appeal to me- but I can’t resist brown butter and buttermilk. This bread looks so moist!
p.s. Thanks for the pin! :)
I am surprised you’re not a banana bread gal but it’s such a mild flavor; I see you going for bolder things…like those peppery bars you just made. Which Ive been thinking about nonstop!
Mmm, love the strawberry butter!
Looks perfect Averie! I love the combo you did with the strawberry butter, yum!
Thanks, Jaclyn! It sure tasted so good. Plus as you know, pink food always photographs well :)
This bread looks absolutely delicious. I love that you added so many delicious ingredients: browned butter, buttermilk, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon – WOW! Talk about packing in the flavors. Your bread turned out so pale and moist looking, too! I love how fresh and springy it looks! I also love the idea of mixing a fruit spread with the butter. Great idea! I could do that with strawberry for Simeon, blueberry for Seraphim and peach for Isaac. Then I would have happy campers, all 3! :-)
My go to recipe for banana bread has been my grandma’s for years. It is so simple and so delicious. I have it in a simple little cookbook she gave me before she died (she passed in 1998, 2 months after Simeon was born) and it is all worn and stained. Good memories of eating it at her house and making it with her all those years ago.
My banana bread loaves ALWAYS have a crack. I kinda like having it there! :-)
Cute flowery board, too, btw!! :-)
This was a bread that stayed so pale…have no idea why. Usually my breads tend to be on the browner side in order for them to cook through and the tops get a little darker sometimes. Baking is always a science…and a mystery some days :)
What a sweet story about your grandma and the little cookbook. I bet you cherish that like no other! :)
I commented to a few other people what I have read a crack means…here you go:
The crack in the center. Ive researched this as it pertains to yeast bread baking and why some loaves need slits on them pre-baking..” I never usnderstood and still don’t why some loaves rise in the middle and crack and others don’t. Even your photos, using similar recipes, some have it and some don’t. Baking is still such a mystery!”– What I can gather is that when all conditions are ideal, the flour, sugars, water, leaveners, and in yeast bread the yeast too.. when all ratios are basically in perfect alignment with the other ratios, steam forms and builds up and causes that perfect dome. Some consider it the hallmark of perfect ratios. When you don’t get that, it means that there is a certain density, or lack of pure chemical balance between the ingredients and to the tastebuds, it’s great. But from a molecular standpoint, ‘perfection’ hasn’t been achieved. I know you would love the baking science & I need to research it more too!
I am a brown butter convert after recently using it in blondies. But it seriously took 20 minutes to brown. Worth it though. I always put some aluminium foil in my oven if I ever think something might possibly bake over because it’s torture to clean the oven.
Browning butter is one of my #1 go to’s when it comes to building depth with any baked good! OK, you need to tell me, honestly — is Kerrygold better than regular butter when it comes to baking with it? I’m always tempted to try it, but at the same time, my budget appreciates regular butter. ;)
Yes it’s wonderful butter. That said, if you’re going to splurge on it, use it on something you’re going to ‘eat’, i.e. on a piece of bread, a baked potato. To bake with it like where it’s masked is like baking with a $10 jar of gourmet peanut butter when Jif will do :)
That looks so fantastic and I can’t wait to try that strawberry butter!
I am loving that the title of this recipe has the word “butter” in it like 16 times. Banana bread is the very first thing I ever learned how to make by myself as a kid and it’s still my favorite recipe to play with cause it’s so versatile! Loving all your variations!
That strawberry butter has me weeeeeeeeeeeepy.
Strawberry butter – YUM!!
This looks fabulous, Averie! I’m actually baking banana bread tomorrow and now I just have to make some strawberry butter, too.
Takes about 4 seconds and quite a worthwhile investment. Enjoy :)
You know I’ve been teetering on the idea of using buttermilk in a loaf recipe like this Averie, but I’ve truly never strayed too far from using yogurt in banana breads. Kind of in the way “why fix it if it ain’t broke?” sort of way – but if I always think like that, how will I discover new and exciting variations of a favorite? Anyway, I am loving this tongue twister of a recipe today. I adore baking with brown butter. The taste, the smell, everything. And the strawberry butter WITH the brown butter in the bread is perfection. The strawberry butter is so pretty too. I’ve never made a fruity butter before but I eat butter + raspberry jam on bagels and I can only imagine the texture of a creamed butter with the jam. WOW.
Your food styling Averie! Oh my goodness. I need to learn a thing or two from you because these pictures are fantastic. Easily my favorite food styling on Averie Cooks I’ve ever ever seen. I want that gorgeous floral/wood tray! The bread itself is beautiful too – that perfect cracked top. I get those sometimes! It’s a beautiful recipe, a beautiful bread, and a beautiful photoshoot Averie. Home run girl!
The crack top – just told this to another friend:
The crack in the center. Ive researched this as it pertains to yeast bread baking and why some loaves need slits on them pre-baking..” I never usnderstood and still don’t why some loaves rise in the middle and crack and others don’t. Even your photos, using similar recipes, some have it and some don’t. Baking is still such a mystery!”– What I can gather is that when all conditions are ideal, the flour, sugars, water, leaveners, and in yeast bread the yeast too.. when all ratios are basically in perfect alignment with the other ratios, steam forms and builds up and causes that perfect dome. Some consider it the hallmark of perfect ratios. When you don’t get that, it means that there is a certain density, or lack of pure chemical balance between the ingredients and to the tastebuds, it’s great. But from a molecular standpoint, ‘perfection’ hasn’t been achieved. I know you would love the baking science & I need to research it more too!
—
The buttermilk. Well I almost never buy it b/c I usually need less than 1 c but I ended up using it for this recipe, another loaf of bread (next week), for something savory, as well as the carrot cake. It was like little carton that kept giving and giving! And yes, your muffins are perfect and I think you’d love the addition of buttermilk + all that baking powder; you’d get more lift with buttermilk than from yogurt. You may get a more moist/denser muffin from yogurt, which is why some oil to compensate is necessary I think. And in the end, it’s all just throwing stuff in a bowl and hoping :)
Board – $2 thrift store find last year. I used it for some photos on a project I had worked on last year and broke it out for this shoot as an afterthought!
I would never turn down a slice of homemade banana bread, and certainly not one made with browned butter. Sometimes I feel like I buy bananas just so I can bake with them when they turn brown!
Whoa. That’s all I can say. This looks ridiculous in the best way possible!
Super fun twist on banana bread. I love nuts in my quick breads but often leave them out to be sensitive to those with allergies. Brown butter is a great way to achieve the nuttiness without the actual nuts, I can’t wait to try!
Girl, this is gorgeous. And now I’m craving carbs!
Oh my goodness your title is “B” crazy! It’s like a tongue twister. Ok this bread and that strawberry butter look amazing. I’m loving the pop of color from the strawberry butter, and that flowered cutting board is gorgeous! At least you had a better baking day than me. I tried these chocolate shortbread cookies from this cookbook that I have had my eyes on for sometime, and they are blah, dry and totally lacking in flavor! They’re totally not making it to the blog. ☺
Oh that is sooooooo frustrating when you try someone else’s recipe and it fails. I’d rather try my own and fail at it than try a published recipe in a cookbook that fails. And I know you’re a recipe-follower, very precise; so it’s not you. It’s them!
Cutting board – $2 thrift store find a year ago. Broke it out for this shoot!
I am LOVING this bread but I’m also adoring that beautiful board with the flowers on it!
Was a $2 thrift store find about a year ago and I broke it out for this shoot! Thanks, Kristen!
That crack on top and the crusty bits on the side, with the moist inner bread stck to it….that’s my favorite part right there! I never usnderstood and still don’t why some loaves rise in the middle and crack and others don’t. Even your photos, using similar recipes, some have it and some don’t. Baking is still such a mystery!
One way to add more banana flavor without altering the texture is to place slices on the top – they get all carmelized, too, which is heavenly. I know you’ve done this in the past, so I’m preaching to the choir.
The slices on top are a double edged sword for me. Int he past they do make it look pretty but the additional weight has prevented proper rising, puffing, and doming, and then I get that sunken center and I learned the hard way making lots of loaves that it’s safer not to include them. Sometimes it can work out but I got burned a few times and sort of ruined loaves due to my ‘pretty afterthought’ idea.
The crack in the center. Ive researched this as it pertains to yeast bread baking and why some loaves need slits on them pre-baking..” I never usnderstood and still don’t why some loaves rise in the middle and crack and others don’t. Even your photos, using similar recipes, some have it and some don’t. Baking is still such a mystery!”– What I can gather is that when all conditions are ideal, the flour, sugars, water, leaveners, and in yeast bread the yeast too.. when all ratios are basically in perfect alignment with the other ratios, steam forms and builds up and causes that perfect dome. Some consider it the hallmark of perfect ratios. When you don’t get that, it means that there is a certain density, or lack of pure chemical balance between the ingredients and to the tastebuds, it’s great. But from a molecular standpoint, ‘perfection’ hasn’t been achieved. I know you would love the baking science & I need to research it more too!
Any banana bread that makes that delicious crack on the top is a winner in my book! I need a bread pan that makes the equivalent of muffin tops. The bottom is still good and all but i would prefer to just cut the top off banana bread and leave the bottom for the rest of the family :)
I have one of those pans and they are a great concept but in reality, have found they turn out more like donuts than muffin tops and while good, not that perfect, perfect muffin top phenomenon. I think there is just no way to shortcut. You pretty much just have to eat off off the true muffin tops :)
Strawberry butter?! I would put that on everything! SO brilliant :)
This bread sounds so good but I LOVE the looks of that strawberry butter! haha It would be pretty awesome smeared on my toast in the morning : )
I only have 9×5 loaf pans (really have to invest in some 8×4 since I have numerous recipes that call for that size) so I’d like to make this amazing-sounding recipe into muffins. Any idea of what the bake time would be???
I bought all my pans at the local grocery store in the baking aisle for 4.99 each. Something to keep in mind but I would just say at 15 minutes start checking, and by 20 minutes I would expect them to be done. But again, watch, look, evaluate, use common sense :)
I will keep that in mind….thank so much!!! :)
Strawberry butter with banana bread?! Why have I not thought of this before! I love strawberries and banana together, so this combination sounds delicious! And the browned butter is always amazing. Here’s one more B word for you: Brilliant! :)
I’ve never heard of mixing jelly and butter together.. but it sounds epic!
This looks amazing :-) I know what I’m doing with the bananas currently browning in the cupboard :-)
LMK if you try it!
I could eat banana bread everyday for lunch, breakfast and dinner! The strawberry butter puts it over the top though.
Love the sound of this breakfast cake! And that strawberry spread :)
Looks great! And I love your flower wood board
Thanks – I got it about a year ago for like 2 bucks from the thrift store. It was calling my name for these photos!
Brown butter, buttermilk, bananas and strawberry butter – so many delicious things and what a fabulous end product! Love this bread, Averie! And that flower cutting board is too cute!!!
Thanks Anna. I got the about a year ago for like 2 bucks from the thrift store. It was calling my name for these photos!
the 4 B’s! Love it. I’m a huge fan of using brown sugar in just about everything I bake as I find that it’s so much richer than granulated sugar, and it brings a chewy, moist richness! Anyway, I love that you used brown butter in your banana bread. I don’t bake much with buttermilk, but my Grandma makes exceptional buttermilk waffles and I can certainly notice the difference. By the way, strawberry butter? YUM!
Oh, and my favorite banana bread? Well it’s actually vegan and gluten-free, with minimal ingredients, and it’s low-fat. It’s shocking how incredible it is actually: http://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/2012/09/vegan-gluten-free-chocolate-chip-oatmeal-banana-bread/
I I rarely use buttermilk either. But the past few weeks I had some and I made about 4 separate things with it. But now that it’s done, could be a long time before I use it again. That bread looks great and reminds me of some of the vegan/GF breads I used to post about like 3-4 yrs ago.
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2009/10/vegan-peanut-butter-banana-bread.html
It’s amazing how versatile oats are and what can be done with them! And how far photography can come in 3=4 yrs :) I love the looks of your bread & all that chocolate!
Wow does this bread look luscious! I just love banana bread, and with browned butter and buttermilk in the mix? Guaranteed deliciousness! Love the strawberry butter, too, Averie!
this sounds so stinking good! I love the idea of strawberry butter. Genius!
How do you not have a cookbook out by now with all of these gorgeous photos and recipes! You are truly an inspiration.
Thanks, Christina. I appreciate your support & kind words so much! :)
Browned butter is so fragrant – I love the nutty aroma it creates. What a great idea to use it in a banana bread. Since I don’t eat nuts, this sounds like a wonderful alternative!
And I detest nuts in baked goods – this gives sort of a nutty depth like browned butter can, minus any actual nuts. Funny how butter can do that!
Whoa! This is serious business right here!!
This banana bread looks so scrumptious, Averie! I am dying over that delicious strawberry butter, too!
I love pink food too :)
Averie, this looks AMAZING! I love the flavor combination of strawberry and banana. I want to put that strawberry butter on everythinggggg. Also, this is possibly the most fun recipe name ever. :)
And it wasn’t even a goofy-made up name like sometimes I see cookies called PMS Cookies or cake called Better Than …. Cake. Or whatever. These ingredients all really describe the bread!
This bread looks and sounds delicious! Your photography is just fantastic. The color in the strawberry butter just pops on the screen. I also wanted to mention that I made your PB Cookies yesterday. I left out the chocolate chunks as I didnt have any chocolate at home. The cookies were unreal!! This is the 2nd recipe I have made of yours. Each has been a slam dunk and my husband just raved about the PB Cookie. Thanks for all your hard work and dependable recipes. :)
Thanks for the compliments on my photography! I appreciate it!
And so happy you loved the cookies. And the other recipe you tried, too! I am so glad you appreciate them and thanks for taking the time to LMK they’ve been slam dunks!
Buttermilk does make a nice addition to quick breads–I have used it in zucchini bread and bran muffins (that one makes me chuckle because I haven’t made them since the 90’s)! It sounds wonderful in banana bread and the strawberry butter is a perfect spread for it! You have an impressive collection of quick bread recipes–and all so yummy looking. Compound butter is another one of those things I forget about making but it is so good!
I had this jar of strawberry preserves just staring at me and thought it would be good to use. Plus pink looks great on camera :) Zucchini & bran muffins, or just bran muffins, remind me of 90s food! I personally hate bran muffins – probably b/c my childhood memories of them from the 80s and early 90s ‘health food craze’ type recipes for them all produced the driest most cardboard tasting muffins. I wonder if it’s even possible to create a GOOD tasting bran muffin? lol I have faith that if anyone can, yours are good!
I love warm banana bread for breakfast. Adding strawberry butter to this is just genius!
I neeed to try browning butter next time I make … well…anything! This looks fabulous, and I want to gobble up that strawberry butter!
Your cookie butter trumps all, yes, it really does :)
You could have called it Beyonce’s Browned Butter- Buttermilk Banana Bread. Then you’d be hip and current ;) Looks great!
Thanks, Lori. I know…if I could work in another few B’s that would have been even better. Still thinking about those chocolate cookie dough truffles of yours! :) (and your banana bread from last week!)
Browned butter and buttermilk truly seem to make most sweet treats better. And I’m guessing strawberry butter never hurts either! I wish I had a slice of this for breakfast!
I have some bananas that are looking really ready for some bread right now. This sounds great!
I don’t bake with buttermilk – I’ve got recipes that call for it and I just do the almond milk + apple cider vinegar trick since I don’t keep buttermilk on hand. Buttermilk always reminds me of my great grandmother. She always had it in her fridge.
I rarely use it as well. But the past few weeks I had some and I made about 4 separate things with it. But now that it’s done, could be a long time before I use it again. Good to know almond milk + ACV works!
I adore strawberry-banana together but never thought to achieve it with butter and banana bread. So creative. Great idea Averie!
This looks heavenly! Banana bread is my all time favorite sweet/quick bread. I have about a dozen ripe bananas that need used up, perfect timing!
Oh yay for being able to use up the ripe bananas!
This would make any Monday better!
This looks heavenly. Can I come over for breakfast?!
Oh yes! We have a few bananas waiting to become bread, and I think yours may be the ticket.
By the way, I made your carrot cake from last week and I’m blogging about it later today. It was divine, but you already knew that!
Oh that’s awesome – so happy to hear you made it and it gets a ‘divine’ rating! Thank you!
The combination of jelly and butter is yummy on anything hot (bread right out of the oven, toast etc). Sounds like a perfect breakfast to me!!
Your carrot cake loaves with buttermilk are on my to-do list, Averie. Seems when I use buttermilk, I always end up throwing some away. But now, I can use the extra for this banana gem. Encore mille fois merci for your marvelous recipes =)
I’ll have a Big Bit of this Browned Butter Buttermilk Banana Bread with a Bountiful Bonus Blanketing of Berry Butter…Blease ;).
glad you like the B’s, too :)
reading your posts late at night is never a good idea…my stomach is grumbling!
these pictures are beautiful!
Thanks, Mai !
Your banana bread looks heavenly and I love the strawberry butter!
Thanks Laura! :)