This Brown Butter Banana Bread is absolutely delicious and also happens to be gluten free. This moist banana bread is full of warm cinnamon, sweet banana, and nutty brown butter. While it may look elaborate this quick bread is so easy to make. Cut a slice for the perfect breakfast or an afternoon snack.
Moist and Delicious Brown Butter Banana Bread
There is something so comforting about a warm batch of fresh banana bread straight out the oven. It makes your house smell amazing and on top of that, it is absolutely delicious, and moist, and just perfect.
If you follow a gluten-free diet, you may have thought that a good slice of banana bread was no longer in the cards for you. Thankfully, that’s not the case! This brown butter banana bread is not only delicious but also happens to be completely gluten free!
More Delicious Brown Butter Recipes
- Brown Butter Snickerdoodles
- Brown Butter Pumpkin Bars
- Brown Butter Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- Brown Butter Orange Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Banana Bread Ingredients
Butter: you can’t have a delicious brown butter banana bread without plenty of nutty brown butter. If you’ve never made brown butter before then be sure to give this post on how to make brown butter a read for everything you need to know!
Ripe Bananas: The riper your bananas the better! Riper bananas have a higher sugar content so they are sweeter and perfect to make banana bread. If you can, wait until your bananas have plenty of brown spots before using them to make a fresh loaf. Oh and, if you have one, use a potato masher to mash your bananas. It works so well!
Gluten Free Flour: To keep this bread gluten free, it uses a gluten free flour blend. If you do a lot of gluten free baking, feel free to use your favorite gluten free flour. I love using King Arthur gluten free flour or Cup-4-Cup gluten free flour. I’ve linked the gluten free flour I used in the recipe below.
Dark Brown Sugar: Any good banana bread needs a good dose of dark brown sugar.
Cinnamon: This recipe calls for a tablespoon of cinnamon which may seem like a lot but trust me…it’s not.
Vanilla Extract: Another must-have banana bread ingredient that adds so much flavor.
Eggs: To bind everything together and give the loaf some stability.
Salt: A little salt goes a long way in this loaf to help balance the flavors so it doesn’t taste overly sweet.
Optional Mix-Ins: If you want, feel free to add in one half cup of dark chocolate chips or your favorite nuts like walnuts.
Ingredient Swaps
- Butter – need to keep this recipe dairy free? swap the butter melted coconut oil or unsweetened apple sauce. It won’t have the brown butter flavor but will still be delicious.
- Flour – not gluten free? swap the gluten free flour for all purpose flour instead.
- Brown Sugar – if you prefer you can swap the brown sugar for coconut sugar. I don’t recommend using a liquid sweetener like honey or maple syrup as it will change the texture and flavor of the banana bread.
- Mix-Ins – if you prefer, add in half a cup of dark chocolate chips to the bread! You could also add half a cup of chopped walnuts as well!
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make Brown Butter Banana Bread
Step One: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Step Two: First, start by making the brown butter. Add the diced butter to a small skillet or pot. Heat the skillet to medium heat. The butter will start to melt as the skillet heats up. Allow the butter to bubble and “cook” until it begins to change from a bright yellow color to a golden brown color. You will know the butter has “browned” when you see brown bits beginning to form in the bottom of the skillet. Remove the butter from the heat and transfer to a heat safe dish to cool while you make the banana bread.
Step Three: In a large mixing bowl add the mashed banana, dark brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir until well combined. Next, add the brown butter and stir until well mixed.
Step Four: Add the gluten free flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt to the bowl. Stir until well combined.
Step Five: Transfer the batter to a well greased 9×5 loaf pan. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Slice one banana in half and press it into the top of the loaf, cut side up. Bake the bread at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Step Six: Let the bread cool for 5 minutes before removing it from the pan and onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Once cool, slice, serve, and enjoy!
Tips for Making Sure Your Banana Bread Doesn’t Stick
There is nothing worse than making a beautiful banana bread and then worrying about it sticking to the pan. Here are some of my best tips to ensure that does not happen.
- Parchment paper. Cut a thick strip of parchment paper and place it in the bottom of a well greased loaf pan before pouring in the batter. Once the bread has cooked, you can lift the banana bread out by using the “handles” of parchment paper.
- Non-stick loaf pan. If you are really concerned, you can also look for a pan that is non-stick which will make it fairly easy to remove the bread.
- Butter or neutral oil. Be sure to grease your pan well with either butter or a neutral oil (I love avocado oil) to ensure that nothing sticks.
Can I Bake This Banana Bread Loaf Into Muffins?
Yes! Transfer the banana bread batter to a lined muffin pan. Next, bake the muffins for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.
How to Store
You can store your bread on the counter, tightly wrapped, for 3-4 days. If you need it to keep for a bit longer, I recommend storing the bread in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.
How to Freeze
Yes! If you want to freeze your banana bread, here are a few of my favorite tips.
- Slice the bread before freezing unless you know you are going to serve and eat the entire loaf at one time.
- To freeze the banana bread, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place the wrapped bread in a freezer safe storage bag. When you are ready to eat, remove a slice of bread, or the entire loaf, from the freezer and let it thaw on the counter top.
- If you would like, you can reheat a slice of banana bread in the oven at 350 degrees, wrapped in foil, for a few minutes until warmed through.
More Reader Favorite Banana Bread Recipes
- Double Chocolate Banana Bread
- Carrot Cake Banana Bread
- Peanut Butter Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Bread
- Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
I hope you give this Brown Butter Banana Bread a try! It’s moist and so delicious! If you do give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo & tag @allthehealthythings on INSTAGRAM. Your reviews and ratings help support All the Healthy Things and make it possible for me to continue to create the recipes you trust and love.
Brown Butter Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 slices 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 slices 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
- 1 ½ cups mashed banana, roughly 3-4 large bananas (plus 1 more for the top)
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ gluten free flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Optional: ½ cup dark chocolate or chopped nuts
- Neutral oil for greasing the pan
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- First, start by making the brown butter. Add the diced butter to a small skillet or pot. Heat the skillet to medium heat. The butter will start to melt as the skillet heats up.
- Allow the butter to bubble and “cook” until it begins to change from a bright yellow color to a golden brown color. You will know the butter has “browned” when you see brown bits beginning to form in the bottom of the skillet.
- Remove the butter from the heat and transfer to a heat safe dish to cool while you make the banana bread.
- In a large mixing bowl add the mashed banana, dark brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir until well combined. Next, add the brown butter and stir until well mixed.
- Add the gluten free flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt to the bowl. Stir until well combined. Fold in any dark chocolate or chopped nuts.
- Transfer the batter to a well greased 9×5 loaf pan. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon. If you would like, you can slice one banana in half and press it into the top of the loaf, cut side up. Bake the bread at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the bread cool for 5 minutes before removing it from the pan and onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Once cool, slice, serve, and enjoy!
Recipe by: Ashlea Carver / All the Healthy Things | Photography by: Eat Love Eat
