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I was totally unoriginal with this month’s Improv Challenge. Our assignment was to make a dish using Bananas and Nutmeg.Well, I thought of banana bread and banana muffins…how inspired! I’m certain some of my fellow participants will be much more creative. I had a board meeting to attend…and it was my turn to bring snacks and take minutes. Let me tell you, I’d rather bake all night long than have to take minutes, but I’m a volunteer, so I just do as I’m told. Banana bread and fruit would be a nice mid-morning treat.
A girlfriend raved about Tyler Florence’s banana bread recipe. Since I wasn’t baking for my family I could add the chopped pecans…and a with a little grating of fresh nutmeg, it would fulfill the challenge. Another sweet foodie friend sent me this nifty loaf pan from Curtis Stone’s line of kitchen equipment for Christmas…the bottom is silicone and allows you to give your bread a little nudge to help it release. Isn’t that a cool idea? I had been dying to test it out. I sprayed the pan with Baker’s Joy and my loaf popped out perfectly. Since I was adding nutmeg, I also added some cinnamon to the recipe. And after making brown butter cookies last week, I just had to brown some more butter to give this loaf even more nuttiness. And you know what, even the picky daughter loved the leftovers…I didn’t tell her about the nuts till she ate three slices. Now that’s a good endorsement!
If you love chocolate, you won’t want to miss the Chocolate Tasting Kit giveaway on yesterday’s post. Plus the brown butter cookies are phenomenal!
Ingredients
- Adapted from Tyler Florence
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8-1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 4 ripe bananas
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, cooked over medium high heat till just browned with a nutty fragrance, then cooled
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
- 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º. Spray 9 x 5 loaf pan with Baker's Joy or other non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
- With a fork, mash two of the bananas so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer, beat the remaining bananas and sugar till light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the brown butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated, then fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Do not overmix. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Give the pan a good rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.
- Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool the bread for about 10 minutes, and remove loaf from pan to wire rack to finish cooling. Slice when cooled completely.
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
One could argue that the same recipe with brown butter is a new experience… there are never too many good banana bread recipes, and this one sounds awesome! That pan is amazing by the way!
Lizzy,
This banana bread looks so good. You can never have too many recipes.
That is a GREAT endorsement. Occasionally I’ll bake something that my daughters will eat “even though” it has nuts in it. That’s how I know I’ve hit a home run!
Wow! This banana bread looks and sounds incredible, Liz!!
You had me at browned butter. I can just imagine how great that loaf made your kitchen smell while it baked.
I think you chose a wonderful item to make – even makes me wish I was at the Board meeting with you – just to enjoy the treats you brought! Any kind of banana bread is a favourite of mine – thanks for your adapted recipe, especially with the browned butter added – as I hit “print”!
What great looking banana bread! I love that you’ve used browned butter. It’s making me hungry just looking at that picture of the bread and fruit platter!. Great addition to the Improv Challenge! I made fried bananas with a brown sugar sauce.
I love banana bread and this recipe looks great.
Hey Liz, the last banana bread I made I used no eggs. It was a vegetarian blog and had flaxseed meal and applesauce in it instead. It was fabulous. I liked it particularly because it gave me one more use for the flaxseed meal in my ice-box.
Anyway, take care.
I love banana loaf and need to create a grain and nut-free one. I’m sure it is doable. I hope the meeting went well.
What a great recipe! I think banana bread is a lot like chocolate in the way that there is always room for another way to eat it! Looking forward to trying this!
Sounds like a cool pan to try. Brown butter just brings a depth to the flavor, it is unbeatable. This bread looks scrumptious.
Brown butter makes anything better, love this banana bread Liz!
I really love this Lizzy!! hugs!!
Sometimes ya gotta stick with the classics!!
And you know how I feel about browned buttterrrrrr mmmmmmmmmmm
What a lovely recipe, and that loaf pan sure looks great. How nice that even the left overs were gobbled up.
I used to love taking minutes because that meant I didn’t have to talk!
This year I definitely need to start experimenting to bake with brown butter. Have not attempted it because of the fear of burning the butter. LOL.. However, your banana bread sounds heavenly. Love them plain and with nuts is even better. Moist and crunchy from the nuts. Great texture!! ♥ ♥ Jo
Oh yeah, Silicone base is definitely a good one and makes our life easy… great looking banana bread!
Can you believe I have never browned butter? Seriously I need to get on this fad soon. Pecans and banana bread sound lovely.
I have never worked with brown butter…. but I bet this nutty banana bread was fabulous (well you made it after all).
I love that your daughter ate three slices… that’s enough of an endorsement for me. 
PS.. the Curtis Stone bakeware sounds wonderful. 
Don’t know about unoriginal, dear Liz. You’ve added very gourmet twists (fresh grated nutmeat, browned butter) to one of my favorite comfort foods. Encore, felicitations for a brilliant baking performance mon amie =)
You’ve pretty much made the perfect banana bread here. I loooove anything with brown butter. It just seems to take the flavor to a higher level. But that combined with the bananas and pecans and all those lovely warm spices, this just sounds amazing. Lovely!
I need to show this to my sister. She loves baking banana bread and maybe she’d want a variation.
Liz, I like your banana bread picts and the recipe sounds yummy. I bet the pecans and brown butter are a great combination.
Thanks for checking out my Breakfast Cookies.
Hi Lizzy, congratulation with the move! How do you like it here, on Wordpress? Mmm, that bread looks fantastic! Have some bananas I need to use, I shell make it tomorrow…
Your banana breads sounds delicious. Nothing wrong with banana bread, I can eat banana bread anytime.
Ah, it looks so moist! I love the browned butter in this =)
Lizzy, it may not be original but hey if it tastes great, who cares? Your daughter eating three slices without detecting the presence of pecans is testament to how good it really is!
One of the first things I noticed was how perfectly shaped the loaf is. That pan is a must have and so is this delicious looking bread. I havne’t had the pleasure of using fresh nutmeg but I’m looking forward to it.
Personally, I’m glad you made banana bread and you gave me a few new ideas for my next loaf (using brown butter and I love love love how you paired it with the beautiful fruit – totally doing this for the next school function I need to bring food to)
There ain’t nothing wrong with good old banana bread. In the food blogging world, it’s rare we get to see classics like this. More commonly, we find cookie-stuffed, cream cheese-filled, candy-studded brownies or the like. You’ve got to stop torturing me with your brown butter goodies!
I’ll take mine toasted with a drizzle of that brown butter on it.
Mimi
I’ve made this recipe, and it is tasty. Your bread looks beautiful and your photos are stunning.
Perfect timing, Liz. I’ve had a banana bread craving lately and you’ve saved me the trouble of searching out a recipe.
I love Tyler Florence’s banana bread recipe! Great pictures.
The addition of browned butter really takes this to a whole new level and totally surpasses “regular ol’ banana bread”!
I am getting more curious about this brown butter thing. When we make desi ghee out of butter sometimes we brown a bit to get that nutty flavor. I just have to try to find what’s the difference in both. Have a great weekend!
Sometimes it’s not about making something creative as much as making something totally delicious. Your banana bread looks wonderful.
This looks absolutely wonderful and what a gorgeous, innovative presentation!
The presentation is beautiful as always
Love how easy the recipe sounds…
I’ll try it this weekend
Brown butter makes everything…just that much better! thanks for the linky
My resident baker husband Murray has adopted this recipe now to replace his old banana nut bread. The nutty butter addition is the bomb! For a baker like him, however, who reads and checks the recipe to make sure he hasn’t forgotten something, you didn’t include adding the sugar anywhere in the dry or wet ingredients so he was at a loss as to where to add this. You might want to edit your instructions to either add it with the dry ingredients, or mix it with the mashed bananas, so it’s not left on the counter. Kaye
Thanks, Kaye! My proofreading skills are evidently lacking…thanks for letting me know. The sugar is mixed with the second batch of bananas. xo