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–+ servings
a stack of banana bread topped with brown butter buttercream frosting

Toasted Sugar Banana Bread

4.32 | 16 reviews
This banana bread takes a few tricks from Burnt Sugar Cake, toasting sugar on the stove and them immediately stirring it in with the bananas. What this gives you is a toastier, nuttier loaf, while still keeping it supremely moist.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings: 12

Equipment

Ingredients

For the toasted sugar banana bread:
  • 3 large (350g) very ripe bananas
  • 1/2 cup (110g) cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (30g) whole milk
  • 1/2 cup (113g) salted butter
  • 3/4 cup (165g) cup brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups (210g) all-purpose flour
  • 2 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, use half if using Morton’s
For the toasted buttercream:
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons (35g) salted butter
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1/4 cup (55g) granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (20g) powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions 

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  2. In a large bowl, mash three bananas.
  3. In a small sauté pan, add 113 grams of butter. Brown the butter by melting it then letting it foam and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally until flecks of brown form at the bottom of the pan
  4. Immediately pour the browned butter into the bananas and stir to combine.
  5. To the pan where the butter was (no need to clean out the pan), add 110 grams of sugar and 30 grams of whole milk. Mix them together until they are fully combined. Put this over medium heat. Without stirring, let the sugars melt and begin to toast to a pale golden (note: this will be less golden than you see in the video), around 4-5 minutes. It will start to look like bubbling sea foam, that means you're about halfway there. Resist the urge to stir until you see the edges are lightly golden. Then use a rubber spatula to stir and scrape down the sides. Immediately pour this into the bowl with the banana/brown butter mixture and stir quickly before the sugar seizes up to combine.
  6. Add in 165 grams of brown sugar and mix. Crack in 2 eggs and add a tablespoon of vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth and combined.
  7. Add in 210 grams of all-purpose flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Mix into a batter until just combined.
  8. Pour this into a parchment-lined 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.
  9. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 45-50 minutes. This may seem a bit lower than most loaves, but the key to the perfect moisture is not over baking it. You can test it with a toothpick in the very center of the bread. If it’s golden and crisp on top and the toothpick comes out clean, it’s ready to be taken out of the oven.
  10. While the loaf is baking, make the toasted buttercream. Add 35 grams of butter to the same pan and toast it until golden. Move the brown butter to a bowl and set it in the fridge. The goal is to get it softened, but not hard.
  11. Add the egg white and 55 grams of granulated sugar to a heat-safe bowl. Using the double-boiler method, put this bowl over a pot that has a few inches of water in it. Bring this pot to a simmer and whisk the egg white constantly, until it reaches 115°F.
  12. Remove the egg white from the heat and use an electric hand mixer to whip it until you have soft peaks. Add 20 grams of powdered sugar and whip again.
  13. Add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and salt. Then, add the softened butter a small spoonful at a time, whipping constantly to get a fluffy, toasted buttercream. Set this in the fridge while the loaf finishes baking.
  14. When the loaf is out of the oven, remove then frosting from the fridge and giving it one more mix to fluff up. This makes only a small amount, but it’s enough for each piece of bread to get around 1 tablespoon.
  15. To serve, slice the bread into 12 pieces, give each piece a nice tablespoon swipe of frosting. Enjoy warm.
Serving: 1 sliceCalories: 210kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 2gFat: 8g