Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread — We’re taking my favourite banana bread recipe EVER and using browned butter as the base to deepen the flavour. To take things up a thousand notches, throw in loads of pecans and chopped chocolate and top with salt for a myriad of outstanding flavours!
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Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread
Another brown butter beauty for you all today! Today we’ve got brown butter, pecan, chocolate chunk AND banana flavour all wrapped up in one mind blowing loaf!
two weeks ago I took my favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe and gave it a brown butter twist, so today we’ll be doing the same with my favourite banana bread recipe.
However, I didn’t want to make a simple banana bread with only browned butter. I wanted this loaf to be full of unique flavours and textures. I had loads of pecans available just waiting to be used and stacks upon stacks of dark chocolate bars waiting to be put into something even more delicious.
Dark chocolate + bananas = great! And pecans + bananas = great (and healthy?), so throwing them all together sounded like the best idea — and it was!
What Exactly Is Brown Butter?
Well it says it right there in the title, it’s brown butter! The French created a technique of cooking butter past its melting point until it let off a nutty aroma and a beautiful golden brown colour. This was used as a sauce in various cuisines and in many pastries!
Browning butter is a technique everyone should learn because it’s so easy and it packs tons more flavour into your meals and desserts!
How Do You Make Brown Butter?
Browning butter is actually quite simple. Start with a pan with a light bottom. If you used a dark bottomed pan, it would be very difficult to tell the difference in the butters colour.
Add the cold butter to the saucepan and allow it to melt. Once it’s melted, the butter will begin to bubble and foam. From there it should only take a few more minutes for the butter to turn a deep golden brown.
Scrape every last bit of it into your mixing bowl, especially the bits of caramelized milk solids at the bottom. That’s where most of the flavour comes from!
I don’t like to over-complicate things, so instead of refrigerating the brown butter so it could re-solidify before continuing with the recipe (like some other recipes call for), I just let the butter cool for a few minutes before beating it with the sugar.
Speaking of which, brown butter and brown sugar make a deadly delicious combo! So I highly recommend you stick with the brown sugar and don’t replace it with white sugar. It just won’t be the same.
From then on you’re gonna make the banana bread as normal. Fold in some chopped chocolate and chopped pecans before pouring into your loaf pan. Dark chocolate is definitely the best option to go with, but milk chocolate would be delicious as well.
Since people eat with their eyes first, I decided to decorate the top of the bread with rows of pecan halves and dark chocolate pieces before baking. This gorgeous decoration is a great way of letting people know what’s inside of the loaf!
If the smell of banana bread in the oven makes you swoon, just wait till you get a whiff of this brown butter banana bread! The nutty aroma from the brown butter, the bananas, the dark chocolate and toasted pecans is intoxicating!
And the texture of those toasted crunchy pecans and chunks of rich dark chocolate snuggled inside the soft and moist brown butter banana crumbs guarantee you’ll fall in love after the first bite!
More Banana Recipes
- Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Chocolate & Peanut Butter Banana Bread
- Banana Caramel Layer Cake
- Banana Caramel Cupcakes
- Bananas Foster Cheesecake
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Let’s get baking!
Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread
Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread — We’re taking my favourite banana bread recipe EVER and using browned butter as the base to deepen the flavour. To take things up a thousand notches, throw in loads of pecans and chopped chocolate and top with salt for a myriad of outstanding flavours!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 large overripe bananas, mashed or puréed
- 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
- 6 oz. dark chocolate, chopped + more for topping
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans
- Pecan halves, for topping
- Coarse sea salt, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Set aside.
- Add the butter to a small saucepan, preferably one with a light bottom so you can easily see the colour change.
- Heat over medium heat until butter has melted.
- Once melted, the butter will begin to bubble and foam. Continue to stir, cooking until the butter turns a golden brown. This can take about 3-5 minutes, but don’t rely on time. Keep your eyes on the butter to see when it starts to turn brown.
- Immediately remove the browned butter from the stovetop and pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl if using a handheld mixer.
- Add brown sugar to butter and beat on medium speed until combined, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until just combined. Add vanilla and mashed bananas and mix on low to combine.
- While the mixer is running, slowly pour in the buttermilk and continue to mix until combined. Turn off the mixer and scrape the sides an bottom of the bowl.
- In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Whisk to combine.
- Add all of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the chopped chocolate and pecans.
- Pour into a 9x5 inch loaf pan and top with rows of pecan halves and more chopped chocolate.
- Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the loaf comes out clean. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Remove banana bread from the loaf pan and transfer to a serving platter. Sprinkle on coarse sea salt. Slice and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
- Freezing: Baked banana bread can be frozen for up to 2-3 months. Allow it to completely cool to room temperature before removing from the pan and wrapping tightly in plastic wrap and another layer of foil, you can also wrap up individual slices. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before eating.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk can be substituted for sour cream or greek yogurt.
- Storage: Store bread covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 450Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 63mgSodium: 391mgCarbohydrates: 59gFiber: 4gSugar: 32gProtein: 6g
BON APPÉTIT!
Love, Dedra
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Would it be a bad idea to toast the pecans first before mixing them in?
not at all! Go for it.