Subtitle one: How to BURN butter rather than brown it.

Subtitle two: When you think you know how to do something so you have all the confidence in the world, but then you FAIL.
Before making this banana bread, I’d made brown butter before. Not enough to call myself an expert, but I could do it, that is, until yesterday, when I promptly ventured into the kitchen, overconfident in my abilities, set the timer for 5 minutes and, checking the saucepan of butter-randomly at best, turned the butter dark brown. Upon googling it, I declared my butter burnt and looked to the internet for ways to salvage it. Mad props, Martha.
Lucky for you, this travail did not go undocumented. Here’s to the good, the bad, and the ugly.


Happy little butter pats melting in the pan, A.K.A. the good.



Boiling, bubbling butter! (Also good)



Burnt brown butter: the bad AND the ugly. Now that’s killing two birds with one stone.

Luckily, with a little help from Martha and a helpful chart, I filtered most of my butter and/or spooned out the brown part and left the burnt bridge…er, butter, behind. I browned an extra tablespoon of butter to make up for what I had lost in the fire (HA!) and then, bound and determined, set out to make this banana bread I’d been dreaming of for weeks.


Behold, brown butter. Now we can proceed with our regularly scheduled broadcast.

Like I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t a brown butter fanatic, but I did recognize its powers. You don’t realize it until you try it, but brown butter lends a deeper, richer, nuttier flavor to anything it touches. #yum.
Dulce de leche and I, on the other hand, are buds. We’ve had some good times, some profitable time$, and some sentimental times. So, as I was perusing Sally’s recipes one day and saw this, I knew it must be done. Dulce de leche and bananas were made for each other.

Oh yeah- and that little teaspoon of bourbon! You can leave it out, or you can add a little more, as many others have. I wanted to incorporate it out of curiosity AND because Collin and I went to Louisville last weekend. There, we toured a bourbon distillery. Not being big consumers of spirits while at the same time being interested vacationers, we marveled at the science being making bourbon and brought a baby bottle home with us (1.6907 oz., to be exact). And since we don’t have any big plans to drink it any time soon, I’m baking with it!!!



I used more dulce de leche than this, but see how I’m avoiding the edges of the pan? You want to to do that, too. A.K.A. Be like me!

All that to say- this banana bread is more desserty, but if you want to make and eat it for breakfast, don’t let me hold you back. The dulce de leche swirl makes it sticky, so have some napkins nearby (or be ready to lick your fingers). You should eat this bread warm and with a generous slathering of BUTTER…or more dulce de leche if that’s the case :).


The finished loaf



See that dulce de leche smile? Isn’t it fantastic?

Now go get yourself some bananas and make bread!

Brown Butter Banana Bread + Dulce de Leche

Created by Jenny Barrett on June 5, 2016



• Prep Time: 30m
• Cook Time: 45m
• Total Time: 1h 15m

• Serves: 8
• Yield: 8 slices

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 medium ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon bourbon (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup dulce de leche, melted

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt and brown the butter. For first time brown butter people: it'll take between 3:30-4:30 for your butter to brown. Err on the side of under-browning because burnt brown butter is a sad thing. It can be fixed, but it's sad! Anyway, to brown the butter, you let it melt in the saucepan and watch it slowly begin to bowl. It will bubble and pop some, and you will need to stir it often during this window of time. Once it reaches a medium-deep (NOT dark!) brown color, remove it from the heat and pour it into another bowl to cool. This will stop the browning process and prevent your butter from burning. Let your butter cool for 2-5 minutes. You can do it!
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use cooking spray or butter to grease a standard loaf pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix brown butter, mashed bananas, sugar, honey, egg, vanilla, and bourbon until well combined.
4. Add the cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and 1 cup of the flour. Stir until combined, then add in the remaining 1/2 cup of flour.
5. Pour half of the batter into the loaf pan. To add the dulce de leche swirl, melt it in the microwave in increments of 15 seconds until pourable. Then spoon it over the batter in the loaf pan. Keep the dulce de leche toward the center of the loaf and away from the edges of the pan. Pour the remaining batter over top of the dulce de leche, being careful to cover it as much as possible.
6. Bake for about 40-50 minutes, turning at the halfway point. Mine was done at the 47 minute mark; yours will be finished when a knife or toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. If you want to keep the loaf from over browning, place aluminum foil over the top of the loaf after it has cooked.
7. Allow the banana bread to cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes, then flip it onto a cooling rack to finish cooling. This bread is best enjoyed warm, so slice and enjoy!

Source: Kitchen Konfidence

• Print