Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread by Baking The Goods.

Warm, nutty brown butter notes intermingle with banana and vanilla in the base of this moist and tender Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana loaf. It's studded with crunchy pecans, dark and milk chocolate chips and a slight sprinkle of briny sea salt flakes and hits on all of the comforting flavor notes. One slice is never enough.

Everybody loves a good Banana Bread recipe

Banana bread brought great comfort to many of us during the early days of the 2020 lockdown. It's an easy and approachable bake that's pretty hard to mess up. An ideal recipe to reach for when you seek something sustaining, satisfying and simple. I've been baking all kinds of quick bread and banana bread recipes throughout the pandemic. Riffing away with whatever ingredients I had at the time.

My Nutella Banana Bread is always a favorite and this Blueberry Poppy Seed Banana Bread is lovely when you're looking for lighter and brighter loaf. But, I keep coming back to this Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. Like freshly fallen snow and piping hot cocoa, this combo is idyllic.

Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with coffee — This Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with hot cups of coffee is my idea of a perfect breakfast.

Banana bread slices for breakfast — This Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with hot cups of coffee is my idea of a perfect breakfast.

A magical trifecta

Depth of Flavor - from the brown butter to naturally sweet banana to the toasty nuts and the layers of milk and dark chocolate.
Texture - this bread has it all. The dense softness from the bananas. The crunch of the pecans and sparkling sugar.
Balance - the flavors and textures are perfectly balanced in this banana bread. Sweet saltiness, rich butteriness, and crunchy, melty softness.

Aside from the magical trifecta, this chocolate chip banana bread recipe has a lot going for it. The flavors, down home heartiness and a few key techniques really up the specialness ante of this quick bread.

Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread ingredients — The ingredients for this Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread are probably things you already have stocked up in your kitchen. If not, you can easily improvise!

Bananas for banana bread — The ingredients for this Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread are probably things you already have stocked up in your kitchen. If not, you can easily improvise!

What makes this Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread so special?

Bananas - the moist maker and familiar flavor layer.
Brown Butter - many banana bread recipes use oil, which is totally fine. But the nutty, full-bodied backbone of the brown butter gives this banana bread a deeper, more complex flavor.
Pecans - banana breads can be a bit squidgy. But, the light crunch of toasted pecans adds a welcome surprise of texture to the loaf.
Chocolate Chips - chocolate brings decadence to a basic banana bread. Blending both milk chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips gives the loaf even more dimension and character!
Sugar and Salt - Instead of greasing and flouring the loaf pan, I grease and sugar-salt the loaf pan. The sugar keeps the bread from sticking to the pan while providing an ever so slight sugar crusted crunch on the outside. I also add a pinch of salt to the sugar, which amps up the flavor, leaving your lips with a salty sweet kiss after each bite.
Sparkling or Raw Sugar - While it may not be necessary, I am big on texture and I love the crunch that a sprinkling or other grainy sugars bring to the surface of banana bread.
More Salt - because I love to balance sweetness with salt, I sprinkle on a briny shower of salt over the top of the loaf, while the chocolate is still melty. It sticks to the chocolate pools and gives the rich brown butter and chocolatey sweet notes a complimentary balance in flavor.

Tips for browning butter

browning butter for banana bread — Watch for the the butter to bubble up. Then the bubbles to get small and foam up, this happens just before it browns!

How to make Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana

Buttering and sugaring a loaf pan — One secret power move I love to employ with quick breads is to butter and sugar the pan. It gives the exterior of the loaf a slightly crusty sweet exterior. I even added a bit of salt here to add more dimension.

mixing banana bread batter — This recipe is easy and you don't need any special equipment to mix it together. Just mash the bananas and mix with the sugars, browned butter.

This recipe is easy and you don't need any special equipment to mix it together. Just mash the bananas and mix with the sugars, browned butter.

Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread batter in pan — Just fill the prepared loaf pan with the batter.

Topping Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread batter in pan — Just fill the prepared loaf pan with the batter.

Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread cooling — As soon as the loaf comes out of the oven, sprinkle with sea salt flakes so they stick to the melty chocolate.

Warm slices of Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread — And once it's cool enough, slice into that beautiful loaf baby!

Warm thick slices of this Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with coffee is an ideal breakfast situation.

Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread slices — There is so much flavor and texture happening in every slice.

Buttered Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread — I like to add a slather of butter and a tiny bit more salt to my slice of Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

Snowy Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread — I like to add a slather of butter and a tiny bit more salt to my slice of Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with Pecans — On second thought, I think I'll just stay inside and watch the snow fall through the window.

On second thought, I think I'll just stay inside and watch the snow fall through the window.

📖 Recipe

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