Brown Butter Black-Spot Banana Bread

⏱ 80 min · Serves 10

The kind of banana bread that vanishes by teatime: nutty brown butter, four properly freckled bananas and a crunchy demerara lid. Deeply moist, faintly caramel, and even better on day two.

Per serving: 355 kcal · 5.6g protein · 48.0g carbs · 16.0g fat

Ingredients

• 115g unsalted butter
• 4 very ripe bananas (about 400g peeled), mashed
• 150g light brown soft sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100g plain yoghurt or soured cream
• 250g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 75g walnuts or dark chocolate chunks (optional)
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar, for the top

Method

1. Heat the oven to 175C/155C fan. Grease and line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with baking paper.
2. Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat, then keep cooking, swirling, for 4-5 minutes until it smells nutty and the milk solids turn golden brown. Pour into a large bowl (scrape in the browned bits) and let cool 5 minutes.
3. Whisk the brown sugar into the warm butter, then the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla, yoghurt and mashed bananas.
4. In another bowl, stir together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
5. Fold the dry mix into the wet with a spatula until just combined - a few floury streaks are fine. Fold in the walnuts or chocolate if using. Do not overmix.
6. Scrape into the tin, level the top and scatter over the demerara sugar.
7. Bake 55-65 minutes, until well risen, deeply golden and a skewer in the centre comes out with only moist crumbs. Tent with foil after 40 minutes if it is browning fast.
8. Cool in the tin 15 minutes, then lift out onto a rack and cool at least another 20 minutes before slicing thickly.