The Flavor-Enhancing Step To Give Bananas Before Making Bread For A Show-Stopping Loaf

You may never go back to making your favorite banana bread recipe the same again after adding one revolutionary step: caramelizing the bananas. This makes your bread taste like old-school flambéed Bananas Foster had a baby with a regular banana bread recipe. I wish I could take credit for coming up with this hack, but Vivian Villa, chef and founder of UnButter, a plant-based butter company, is the mastermind behind it.

According to Villa, the reason caramelized bananas taste so luxurious isn't just the butter — it's what happens to the moisture released from both the fruit and butter as they cook down. "Evaporating the water in the process of caramelizing bananas for bread provides moisture, while also concentrating the sugars, [and] provides deeply rich and caramelized notes of banana," she explains. The result, once baked, is big banana flavor brimming with notes of toffee and butterscotch in every bite.

If you think "caramelizing" sounds complicated and fancy —- don't worry, it's not. As Villa simply explains, "Add sliced bananas to a pan of butter over medium heat to evaporate the water and let the caramelization process happen when the sugars break down and combine with the butter in a flavorful union." For perfect caramelization, make sure to use butter and not substitute with oil — or go dairy free with UnButter's unsalted or lightly salted plant-based butter. Make sure to start with enough butter to coat each banana when melted — about a 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) for every three medium-sized bananas. Otherwise, too much moisture will be lost, which can create a dry banana bread.

You can caramelize the bananas in almost any banana bread recipe. However, to avoid having to adjust other ingredients to compensate for the extra moisture and sweetness the caramelized bananas create, separate the bananas from the syrupy liquid left in the pan after cooking. Mash the bananas and let them cool to room temperature before mixing with the wet ingredients. Bake the loaf, and while it's still warm and fresh from the oven, drizzle the reserved syrup over the top. This method keeps the bread tender and infused with deep banana flavor, and the syrup alleviates any dryness while lending nutty, caramelized sweetness.

Regarding complementary ingredients to take your banana bread to the next level (Yes, it's possible) are additions like chocolate chips, almond extract, walnuts, or cinnamon (Definitely cinnamon). This banana bread will be decadent enough to enjoy as dessert, with a highly recommended scoop of our absolute favorite vanilla ice cream — Van Leeuwen — on top.