If banana bread isn’t the most glowed up hero of quarantine this year, I don’t know who or what is. I swear in the beginning few months of quarantine, there was a new flavor combo of banana bread every single week. Some were amazing, some were… different.
I mean, to each their own, and I am ALWAYS here for banana bread… classic or new, but lately I’ve been loving just going back to the basics (with a twist here and there).
I like to classify this banana bread as classic with a twist. Pecans in banana bread is the farthest thing from revolutionary. Hell, I can imagine my grandma would probably be horrified if I made a banana bread without pecans in or on top of it. But, the twist comes in by way of the easiest 2 ingredient caramelized pecans, and brown butter in place of regular butter. Basically all of the same ingredients as a normal pecan banana bread, but leveled up by preparing things a bit differently.
Best of both worlds if you ask me!
Brown Butter and Caramelized Pecan Banana Bread
Difficulty: Easy1
LoafIngredients
- Banana Bread Ingredients (Wet)
2 Ripe Bananas
1/2 cup Vegan Butter
2 Tbsp Almond Milk (or whatever plant based mylk you have on hand)
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2/3 cup Coconut Sugar
1/4 cup Maple Syrup
- Banana Bread Ingredients (Dry)
1 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
- Caramelized Pecan Topping Ingredients
3 Tbsp Coconut Sugar
1 Tbsp Water
1/2 Cup + 2 Tbsp Chopped Pecans
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a standard 9×11 loaf pan with parchment paper or grease well.
- Begin by first caramelizing the pecans – we will want to let these cool before topping the batter with them. In a small pot or pan, add 3 tablespoons coconut sugar and 1 tablespoon of water.
- Let the sugar and water heat up on stovetop over low-medium heat, stirring lightly until the mixture bubbles and begins to thicken. At this point, the sugar has caramelized.
- Add in pecans and stir until pecans are fully covered in the caramelized sugar. Transfer to a plate or bowl and let cool.
- Next, brown your butter by cutting into cubes or slabs and adding butter into a pot or pan, and heat on stovetop over medium heat. Pro tip: you can use the same one that you caramelized the pecans in!
- Let the butter melt and heat through, until beginning to bubble. Stir lightly, and once the butter is bubbling through and slightly fragrant, remove from heat and let cool.
- And finally, make the batter for the banana bread. Begin by mashing 2 ripe bananas in a large bowl until smooth.
- Next, add in two eggs into the mashed bananas and whisk until mixed together.
- To the bananas and eggs, add in almond milk, vanilla extract, coconut sugar, maple syrup, and cooled brown butter. Mix until all wet ingredients are well combined.
- 10. Finally, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon & salt to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
- 11. Add banana bread batter to prepared loaf pan and top with caramelized pecans by sprinkling evenly over top. Note: if the pecans have stuck together, just lightly break them apart. 🙂
- 12. Bake at 350 for 60 minutes. After baking, remove from oven, let cool, slice & enjoy!
If you made this recipe, I’d love to see it! Let me know in the comments or tag me on IG at @simply_unbeetable 🙂
This bread is so good!! The brown butter and maple syrup makes a difference and unique. I am a pretty critical rater.