Brown Butter Banana Bread With Peanut Streusel
Author Notes: This recipe is inspired by the banana bread I made during my childhood from "The Blender Cookbook." I can't find it anywhere online. I think it's from the manual that came with our blender.
This month, I've been snacking on bananas with yogurt and chopped peanuts. This recipe takes these ingredients to another level. If you add chocolate sauce and vanilla bean ice cream, it's a lovely riff on a banana split. Feel free to use any kind of nut for the streusel topping. The streusel is an integral part of the banana bread, so don't skip it. You mix it down and it becomes one with the batter.
Make sure to undercook this banana bread. You must take it out when it's still gooey in the center. Otherwise the bread will be dry and you will be sad. —Phyllis Grant
Makes: one 9- by 5-inch loaf
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1/4
cup unsalted butter (for the streusel)
-
1/2
cup brown sugar (for the streusel)
-
1/3
cup all-purpose flour (for the streusel)
-
1/4
teaspoon kosher salt (for the streusel)
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2/3
cup roasted and salted peanuts, finely chopped
-
1/2
cup unsalted butter (for the cake)
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1 3/4
cups all-purpose flour (for the cake)
-
1
teaspoon baking soda
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1
teaspoon baking powder
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1
teaspoon kosher salt
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2
bananas, very ripe
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2
eggs
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1/3
cup brown sugar (for the cake)
-
1/3
cup white sugar
-
1/2
cup whole milk yogurt
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2
tablespoons orange juice, fresh or store bought
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1
tablespoon vanilla extract
- Heat oven to 350° F. Grease your loaf pan (you'll want one that's at least 3 inches deep) with butter and coat with a thin dusting of flour.
- For the streusel: Melt 1/4 cup of butter. Stir in the 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix in the nuts. Set aside.
- For the cake: Place the 1/2 cup of butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Once it's melted, don't walk away. Take it off the heat once the sizzling stops (4 to 5 minutes) and brown bits drop down to the bottom of the pan. Set aside to cool.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your food processor, combine the brown butter, bananas, eggs, brown sugar, white sugar, yogurt, orange juice, and vanilla extract. Blend until almost smooth (about 15 seconds). If you see any chunks of banana, pulse for a few more seconds.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the combined dry ingredients. Carefully fold together. Make sure to incorporate all of the flour pockets but be careful not to overmix. Spoon into your greased loaf pan. Pour the streusel all over the top of the batter. Using your fingers or a spoon, gently press some of the streusel a few inches down into the batter. Place on a sheet pan in the middle of your preheated oven. Don't worry if it overflows a bit. It will look cool and still taste great.
- The cake is done when you stick a skewer or paring knife about an inch from the center of the cake and it comes out clean. The very center should still be gooey. This takes between 35 and 40 minutes. Since all ovens are different, start checking after about 25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let it cool for about 30 minutes. Then eat with butter, cream cheese, or a large scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. If you eat it the next day, make sure to warm it up or toast it and then slather it with butter. Freezes beautifully for a few months.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
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loved the recipe... but for next time will surely reduce the sugar...
loved the recipe... but for next time will surely reduce the sugar...
Followed almost to the letter, with the exception of the orange juice (which we didn't have) replaced by whiskey (which we did - a damning indictment of our household). I also threw in some cinnamon and nutmeg. The cake is delicious enough to make on its own if I'm not up for streusel in future, but it was really the work of moments and quite transformative. I'm so glad I went with the recommended peanuts rather than switching for pecans: it gave the bread a lovely breakfasty-peanut-butter-y edge that wasn't too rich, despite appearances. Made the mistake of baking in an 8-inch loaf so took a good 50 mins to cook and had some spillage. Heartily recommended.
This was fantastic- decadent but not too sweet. I used pecans and I did add some cinnamon to both the streusel and the cake. Took about 40 minutes to bake.
Amazing...I didn't have peanuts so I used pecans. Delicious 👌🏻
I had a go-to recipe for banana bread but, decided to give this one a go. Now, there is no other banana bread recipe, as far as 'm concerned.
Bananas? Not my favorite fruit. Peanuts? Not my favorite nut. So how is this so delicious?! Easy to make, easy to bake, stays moist. If left to my own devices I could graze my way through this in 2 days. Thank god I'm not left to my devices. Great recipe and lots of compliments. Thank you so much for posting it.
I am no longer allowed to make this! It is too good. Damn!
Hands down the best banana cake ever! I did away with the streusel and added toasted and finely chopped pecans for some crunch and some semi-sweet choco chips that I had on hand bcoz why not, right? Yummiest banana cake popped out of the oven. The perfect sweetness too--neither too cloying nor a little wanting!
Oh, and mine took longer than 40 mins too. . . about 50 perhaps. I kept checking every five mins till the top browned up the way I wanted it too
I really don't know. Sorry. :)
the orange juice is for flavor. it's really nice with the vanilla extract and banana. someone on twitter mentioned they replaced the orange juice with grand marnier. love that idea. i think the orange juice also reacts with the yogurt which might explain why this bread always overflows out of my pan!
What is the role of orange juice in this recipe? Respond at your earliest convenience. Thanks! :)
I just pulled this out of the oven and sliced one out, buttered it up and it's so good.
I used Pecans instead of Peanuts.
I forgot to get yogurt at the store but had some non-fat Kefir in the fridge and it turned out just fine.
Great Recipe!
nice use of kefir. thanks for the tip.
This is one of the best banana bread recipes I have ever made. Adjusted the amount of sugar in the struesel and tried the layering per another suggestion . No gooey centre, which was fine by me. Texture was perfect and no overflow. Perfect...all other banana recipes will be discarded
Anyone tried this as muffins?
Oh just saw the same question posted under the questions tab. Might give that a try!
Made this last night. So good. It totally overflowed the pan (I think mine was a bit small) but that just meant some bits I could eat while the rest cooled. Also, I have a rather deep ravine where the streusel went in, so next time I may create a layer instead of poking it into the batter.
Definitely the top of the banana bread/cake list, thanks!
yay! mine always overflows a bit too. crunchy streusel bits. yum. love the layering idea. will add that to the recipe. thank you!
Would+soy+yogurt+(vegan)+be+ok+to+use+instead+of+the+whole+milk+I+wonder?
Thanks+:)
Megan
can you substitute Greek yogurt instead of whole milk yogurt?
I+used+2%+fat+Fage+and+it+turned+out+great!
I used greek and it was delish
This was excellent. I made a few tweaks.. added 2 tablespoons of bourbon (because... alcohol) and used 2/3 cup of brown sugar instead of both white and brown. I didn't have peanuts on hand unfortunately, instead I had pecans that I put to use in replacement. It was truly delightful. Next time I will certainly try the peanuts, however! Love this recipe! Thank you for sharing.
This is the best adaptation of an old standard ever! I have hidden bananas from Hubs to get very ripe. Know he's going to thank me.
so glad you like it. and love that you have to hide bananas. made me laugh.
This is an absolutely amazingly delicious treat - I would consider it more of a coffee cake than banana bread but who cares? The delicate crumb, depth of flavor and - Oh! - the streusel make this a permanent addition to my recipe file.
excellent!
I made this yesterday. It won over the fiancé last night and the office this morning! I had to cook it slightly longer than suggested. Maybe 48 minutes? And contrary to Frances' comment, I actually found this recipe a touch on the sweet side. Certainly not cloyingly. But enough that everyone who tried it exclaimed "Allie, this cake is great!" It's a decadently nutty, buttery, sweet, moist banana bread and I'll surely make it again!
decadently nutty. love it. what i like is the balance of the super sweet streusel with the less sweet banana bread. so glad you liked it!
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