Brown Butter Caramelized Banana Bread

I am a zombie.  Yesterday morning, Carson and I woke up, flew to LA, attended the Emmy's, and then flew home on a red-eye last night.  Essentially, we spent 12 hours in Los Angeles and another 12 hours on a plane in a 24-hour timespan.  I am a zombie.  BUT, it was allll worth it because The Voice won an Emmy!!!!  I was so proud of Carson and everyone that works so hard on the show, and it was very exciting to be there in person to cheer them on.  Tonight starts a new season, so tune in!!

Moving on to this ridiculously delicious banana bread that I made on Saturday morning in guilty preparation for leaving my children.  I think it worked, because they barely missed us and made us pretty cute "welcome home" signs.  Go, banana bread, go!  I tried out a couple of new techniques after seeing this recipe.  First, I caramelized the bananas by roasting them in the oven with a little honey and cinnamon.  Then, I browned the butter and let it cool slightly before adding it to the batter.    

By doing these two things, the banana bread tasted sinful.  Almost as if I had added rum or peanut butter.  It has a caramely, slightly nutty flavor, and it's perfectly moist and plain old delicious.  No need to bake this out of guilt, just bake this!  And watch The Voice tonight!  Ok, I'll take a nap now...

Brown Butter Caramelized Banana Bread

(Makes 1 loaf)

Printable Recipe

4 ripe bananas

Honey

Cinnamon

1 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

6 T unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sour cream

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Peel bananas, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Place in oven, and cook for 20 minutes, until bananas begin to caramelize.  Remove, and set aside to let cool.  Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees.

While bananas are roasting, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, until it begins to brown and let off a nutty aroma.  Remove from heat, and set aside to let cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg). In a larger bowl, add the bananas and mash.  Stir in the butter, vanilla, sour cream, brown sugar and eggs, and combine until just smooth.  Add the dry ingredients, and stir to combine.  Pour batter into a greased bread pan, and bake for one hour.