Olivia Regard's Brown Butter Banana Bread

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease loaf pans (2) with butter and a thin dusting of flour.
2. Toast pecan pieces (for both bread and streusel topping) for approximately 10 minutes until fragrant.

Streusel:

Streusel Ingredients:
2/3 cup pecan pieces, toasted
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt

1. Melt 1/4 cup of butter.
2. Stir in the 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of flour and 1/4 tsp of salt.
3. Mix in 2/3 cup of pecan pieces, and set aside.

Banana Bread:

Banana Bread Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 bananas*
1/2 cup whole milk yogurt
2 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup pecan pieces, toasted

1. Place 3/4 cup of butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Don't walk away. After it melts, the butter will begin sizzling and popping. Once the sizzling stops (4-5 minutes) and brown bits drop to the bottom of the pan, take the butter off the heat. Set aside to cool.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Add 3/4 cup of pecan pieces. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of your food processor, combine the brown butter, bananas, eggs, brown sugar, white sugar, yogurt, orange juice and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth (approx. 20 seconds). Pulse to remove any remaining chunks of bananas.
4. Pour the wet bread ingredients over the dry bread ingredients. Carefully fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Do not over mix. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pans.
5. Pour the streusel topping over the batter, and press into the batter gently using a spoon or your fingers.
6. Place the pans onto a sheet pan, and slide into the oven on the middle rack.
7. Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes. The cake is done when you stick a skewer or knife near the center, and it comes out clean.

Remove from the oven, and let cool. Enjoy!


*Olivia's Tip: Freeze overripe bananas in the banana peel for future use. When ready to bake, let the bananas defrost slightly, peel and use as directed. The bananas will not look pretty and will be quite mushy, but they will taste delicious.