Brown Butter Rum Banana Bread

Say goodbye to boring bread and hello to this Brown Butter Rum Banana Bread. A moist and flavorful breakfast treat that’s so simple to make you don’t even need a mixer!

The fire alarm went off today and for once it wasn’t because of my cooking. You see, summers in Florida are so oppressively hot that when the front door is open more than a few minutes my smoke detectors think the air blasting in from outside is a raging inferno.

That’s one downside of living in a climate akin to a tropical rainforest. It’s not all bad though, thanks to jungle-level humidity there are enough banana trees in my yard to make a monkey go apeshit. As many as I eat myself, I’m surprised I haven’t overdosed on potassium and died. But there’s a limit to how many I can stomach straight out of the peel, which is why I like to mix the extras into quick breads.

I know what you’re thinking: the last thing the world needs now is another banana bread recipe. People literally baked so many loaves of banana bread during COVID-19 lockdowns that it caused a freaking flour shortage. As a result, banana bread boredom is at an all-time high. But this particular recipe was concocted to not only to redeem banana bread, but also the entire cursed year that is 2020.

In case you were wondering, the solve for both predicaments is alcohol. I know this, not because I asked a crystal ball, but because I asked a crystal decanter of rum. The answer I got was clear. (Although a few Cuba libres later the answer grew a little fuzzy. As did everything else, but let’s not get distracted by my drinking habits.) The CDC said we have to stay 6 feet away from each other, but it never said we have to social distance from liquor bottles. Boom! Problem solved. If you’re barely hanging on and baking banana bread for the sake of your sanity then splash some rum in your banana bread and mix the rest of the bottle with some Coke.

Fun fact: the pandemic can’t kill your vibe when you’re channeling a pirate.

Before sharing the recipe for Brown Butter Rum Banana Bread, here are a few tips to help you out:

Ingredient Tips

Always use the spoon and level method to measure flour. Scooping from the bag overpacks flour into the measuring cup which steals moisture from the bread.

Make sure eggs are at room room temperature before beginning. If you forgot to take eggs out of the refrigerator ahead of time, you can speed up the process by placing them in a bowl of warm water. Once they’re at room temperature, crack and beat them with a whisk before combining with mashed bananas.

This recipe was prepared with Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum but I’ve also used Bacardi with great results.

Overripe bananas are a must for this recipe. Choose bananas so brown and covered with bruises that they look like Mike Tyson punched them.

Preparation Tips

Browned butter takes approximately 7 minutes from the time the butter initially melts until completion. If you’ve never browned butter before, it’s easy to do. First, melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Next, stir constantly with a wooden spoon. (There’s a fine line between browned butter and burned butter. Do not cross that line or you will be buying a new saucepan.) The butter will get foamy and release a nutty aroma. After that happens, you’ll begin seeing browned bits forming on the bottom. As soon as that happens, remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.

This recipe calls for a standard 9 x 5 loaf pan. For best results, use a shiny metal pan.

Check on your banana bread after it’s been in the oven for 45 minutes. If it looks like it’s overbrowning, cover the top with aluminum foil until baking is complete. It was too hot to turn on my regular oven today, so I used a toaster oven and it browned beautifully without foil.

How to Store Brown Butter Rum Banana Bread

Banana bread will keep up to 2 days at room temperature or up to 7 days in the refrigerator.

To store banana bread in the freezer, first wrap in plastic wrap then in aluminum foil before placing in a freezer bag. Remove excess air from the freezer bag before zipping shut. Bread will keep in the freezer up to 3 months.

I hope you enjoy Brown Butter Rum Banana Bread recipe! Please leave a comment and rating at the bottom of this blog once you’ve tried this boozy version for yourself. And, while you’re at it, sign up for my weekly Recipe Newsletter so you never miss a tempting recipe.

Finally, if you like making desserts with hints of alcohol check out my Bourbon Cherry Galette recipe. It’s a flaky, free-form pie crust filled with bourbon soaked cherries that’s beyond simple to throw together.

Brown Butter Rum Banana Bread

Heather Wolf

Say goodbye to boring banana bread and hello to this brown butter rum recipe. It's a moist and flavorful breakfast treat that's so simple to make you don't even need a mixer!

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course Breads and Rolls

Cuisine American

Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

  

• 2 cups all-purpose flour unbleached
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt fine
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 8 Tbsp butter unsalted
• 1/4 cup rum
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 cups overripe bananas mashed
• 2 lightly beaten eggs room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract pure
• 1 overripe banana sliced in half lengthwise

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9 x 5 loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
• Brown butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the butter gets foamy and releases a nutty aroma (approx. 7 minutes).
• Once browned bits begin to form on the bottom, remove pan from the heat.
• Stir in rum and brown sugar then set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
• In a separate bowl, whisk mashed bananas and beaten eggs with vanilla extract until combined.
• Pour the cooled brown butter rum mixture into the mashed banana mixture. Stir until incorporated.
• Add flour mixture to wet ingredients, one cup at a time, gently stirring until just combined. Avoid overmixing or bread will be dry.
• Spoon batter into loaf pan then level with a spatula.
• Slice remaining banana in half lengthwise then press each half onto the top of the batter.
• Brush banana halves with a pinch of brown sugar then bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Tent bread with foil while it bakes if it appears to be overbrowning.
• Cool bread in the pan for 10 minutes before turning loaf out onto a baking rack to cool completely.
• Bread can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days or in the refrigerator up to 7 days.

Keyword banana bread, brown butter, rum