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Brown Butter-Cardamom Banana Bread
For a more flavorful banana bread without more effort, we paired one of banana’s most complementary spices, cardamom, with nutty browned butter. Blooming the spice in hot butter intensified the flavor. For just the right texture, we found we needed two leaveners. Baking powder gave the bread lift; baking soda resulted in a well-browned top and a pleasantly dense crumb. While we preferred the deeper flavor of dark brown sugar here, light brown works just as well. Sprinkling granulated sugar over the top of the loaf just before baking created a crisp, brown crust that we loved.
1
9-inch Loaf
Tip
Don’t forget to remove the saucepan from the heat before adding the cardamom and mashed bananas. This ensures the butter and pan will cool sufficiently so the eggs won’t curdle when whisked in.
1 hour 15 minutes
25 minutes active
Ingredients
-
113
grams (8 tablespoons) salted butter, plus more for the pan
-
260
grams cups (2 cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
Directions
-
01Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the upper-middle position. Mist a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Reviews
March 9, 2026
Delicious!
Loved the crackled top created by the sugar. The cardamom really elevated the banana bread into something special.
February 18, 2026
Best use of cardamom and banana
Just amazing! Hubby says best one yet.
July 10, 2025
Revised review
I thought it was a little salty. My error. It’s perfect. I add walnuts. Excellent recipe 👏👏👏👏👏
June 20, 2025
My new favorite banana bread,
The browned butter and cardamom boosts the flavor and interest of this banana bread!
June 19, 2025
A Banana Dream - Brown Butter and Cardamon
This recipe is outstanding with the butter and cardamon, it is warm and tender, and taking the 3 minutes to brown the butter is no sacrifice. I made one change after my first attempt as I used demerara sugar on top to increase the crisp topping, a personal preference. I can recommend toasting slices to dry them slightly and use them for French Toast, or if they get stale (That's a joke because it won't last that long!), use them for bread pudding. This is an outstanding recipe; your team did a great job as usual! Thank you for being one of the few teams still teaching people to cook!
I've made this recipe twice. The first time, I found the cardamom taste overpowered the banana and it didn't taste banana-ey enough. The second time, I made some changes: (1) used 2.5 oz of whole wheat flour in place of 2.5 oz of the all purpose flour, (2) reduced cardamom to 1/4 tsp, (3) added 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, (4) added roasted walnuts, (5) used a 9-inch cake pan instead of the loaf pan, and (6) I shingled thin banana slices around the perimeter of the pan before sprinkling with sugar. It was done in 40 minutes (it may have been done earlier, but I didn't check it until 40 mins). It's a delicious banana cake!
I also found it too salty. I will cut back. I wonder if the brand of kosher salt makes a difference
Covid-19. Day 26. I have one black banana. I certainly don’t want to waste any food these days. The one black banana measures out to 1/2 cup ( smashed). Holycow- I’m gonna have to reduce this recipe to 1/4 of its usual volume. It’s turned out tiny and tasty. Glad I had a tiny pan.
I've made this recipe 3 times now and will make it at least 30 X more to come. I did not find it a bit salty, I used Kosher Diamond Salt...that make a difference since the flake's volume takes up more room than regular salt, so half the weight. I love cardamom and did not find it too much even though I freshly ground my cardamom.
This banana bread is incredibly delicious and I have made many times. I personally dial back on the cardamom and add cinnamon as well. I use an 8x8 pan since that's what I have, and it finishes in 30 minutes. Based on other comments I'm guessing Milkstreet has made adjustments to the salt- the 1/2 teaspoon of table salt is perfect. Highly recommend! Browning the butter is a game changer!
FABULOUS! I don't like banana bread at all - but get tired of throwing out overly ripe bananas. This is amazing. I truly believe the cardamom made all the difference. I may even make this as gifts. Truly wonderful - the perfect texture and flavor. I baked mine for 47 minutes so watch the time.
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7 bananas