Brown Butter and Crumble Banana Bread
Brown Butter and Crumble Banana Bread
The most popular recipe on my website is definitely my banana bread but I wanted to jazz it up for the pandemic because I feel if there was any moment to indulge, this would be it. Most of my recipes give ingredients in weight but with my banana bread recipe, I’ve always just stuck to giving the amounts in cups and measuring spoons. I feel like banana bread is one of those things you don’t have to be particularly pedantic about. As long as you stick to using the same set of measuring cups and spoons when making this recipe, it’ll work out. It’s why during a pandemic, everyone’s go to for baking is a banana bread. You’ll end up making more crumble than you need for this recipe, just freeze the extra and you can thank me later.
INGREDIENTS
Banana Bread
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar (if you have a sweeter tooth you can use 3/4 cup)
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup mashed banana (approx. 2 large very ripe bananas)
1/4 cup Greek yoghurt, room temperature
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1.5 cups plain flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Crumble
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp plain flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup caster sugar
Pinch of salt
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius (conventional oven). Line a 20cm X 11cm loaf pan with non-stick baking paper. There should be some excess baking paper hanging over the edges of the pan so you can use it to easily lift the banana bread out after it’s cooked
First step is to brown the butter. Place the butter in a large frying pan and melt over medium heat. Don’t walk away from it because it will start to froth and bubble and then you’ll see brown flecks forming at the bottom. It’s a good idea to regularly swirl the pan or use a spatula to move the butter around so it doesn’t burn. Once the brown flecks form and the butter takes on a more golden colour and there’s a nutty smell, it’s ready. Remove off the heat straight away and set aside to cool.
Whilst the brown butter is cooling, make the crumble. In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt and oats and then add in the butter and rub it into the mixture with your finger tips, till it resembles coarse bread crumbs. I like there to be chunks in my crumble so I don’t try to achieve uniformity in how the butter is rubbed in – I just make sure that all the butter is well coated by the dry ingredients.
To make the banana bread batter: when the brown butter has cooled to room temperature, add it to a large mixing bowl with the brown sugar and whisk together. Add the eggs, yoghurt, apple cider vinegar and mashed banana to the bowl and whisk everything together.
In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda and salt.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix together. Stop as soon as the flour is just incorporated.
Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and smooth out the top. Spoon the crumble mixture all over the top of the batter. Bake the banana bread in the oven for 45-55 minutes or until a skewer pushed into the centre of the cake comes out clean. I start checking the cake at 45 minutes.
Remove the banana bread from the tin and allow it to cool on a rack (but if you can’t wait, it’s good when eaten warm!)
Tips:
- The yoghurt adds moisture to the cake and acidity to react with the bicarb.
- The apple cider vinegar also is there to react with the bicarb – you can use white wine vinegar or white vinegar. You won’t notice the taste after the banana bread is baked.
- How much crumble you want to add is a personal preference. I just make sure the entire surface of the batter is covered, any extra crumble can be put in the freezer and used any time it takes your fancy.
- If you use a different sized baking tin, then you’ll get a different result but that’s okay. A larger tin just might not rise as evenly and you’ll find baking time will vary. I use a light coloured baking tin, the darker the tin, the more of a crust that will form around the banana bread.