Honey and Brown Butter Strawberry Banana Bread

Sometimes life is stressful. Sometimes you have exams you absolutely must excel in to get the fantastic grades you desire and three papers to write in the next two days. Sometimes you have who-knows-how-many loads of laundry spilling out of your closet. Sometimes you have bananas and strawberries getting older and older in your kitchen.

Luckily, for such moments as these there is strawberry banana bread.

As a kid I hated both strawberries and bananas with equal, intense passion. Now these berries (Did you know bananas are considered berries?? So are avocados and pumpkins. Wild!) rank among my absolute favorites and they work so so well in this recipe. The best part is probably the strawberries: the slices on top are cute and their juice seeps into the bread like a delicious natural glaze. :)

 Honey and Brown Butter Strawberry Banana Bread

Adapted from Joy the Baker Brown Butter Banana Strawberry Bread

makes 1 9x5” loaf or 9x13” cake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and browned

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup honey

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¼ cup strawberry yogurt or buttermilk

1 cup bananas, mashed (2-3 bananas)

½ cup diced strawberries + thin slices for top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 9x5” loaf or 9x13” cake pan with butter or cooking spray.

Heat butter in saucepan on stove until melted and golden brown. Butter is ready when light brown flakes begin to form at the bottom of the pan and butter smells nutty. The butter can burn quickly, so remove instantly to cool in a small bowl.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In separate large bowl or stand mixer, combine honey, eggs, vanilla, yogurt (or buttermilk) and mashed bananas. Add butter once cooled. Fold in dry ingredients until incorporated, scraping sides and bottom of the bowl. Fold in diced strawberries.

Pour into desired pan and top with sliced strawberries. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 15 minutes before removing to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Wrap well and freeze bread or eat in the next four days.

Take that, finals.

Categories: banana, bread, strawberry