sugar crackle banana bread
This sugar-crackle banana bread recipe is unlike any banana bread you’ve ever made before. It’s tender, soft and springy, full of toasty banana flavor and layered with a delightfully crunchy sugar topping.
I spent a lot of time last year developing my own banana bread recipe with two goals in mind – I wanted a crunchy element to contrast the soft, cake-like texture, and I wanted a loaf that was not too dense and moist to counteract that gummy-like texture in your mouth.
This sugar-crackle banana bread checks all the boxes for me. This bread is baked in a 9×13 cake pan that makes for easier slicing and serving, and the crumb is so soft and springy due to the creaming of the butter and sugar.
The flavors are deep and toasty, due to the browning of the butter, brown sugar and the addition of toasted milk powder, which is an optional ingredient, but I’ll get back to it in a second.
Lastly, the sugar crackle topping, which is accomplished by liberally sprinkling granulated sugar over the batter before it goes into the oven, is so simple, yet so very effective and delicious.
Ingredients You'll Need
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Ground Cinnamon and grated Nutmeg are added with the purpose of complimenting and highlighting the banana flavors – this is not a heavily spiced bread.
- Kosher salt
- Milk Powder is optional, but I explain the purpose of the ingredient below.
- Salted butter may be substituted with unsalted, just add an extra pinch or two of kosher salt.
- Light Brown Sugar
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Whole Eggs
- Whole Milk may be subbed with a full-fat plant based milk option, such as oat milk.
- Granulated Sugar is reserved for sprinkling over the batter just before baking, creating a delightfully crisp and crackly layer of sweetness on top of our bread.
Recipe preparation.
This recipe is fairly simple to make, and you can make the process even easier for yourself by prepping some of the ingredients ahead of time.
I like to toast the milk powder and brown the butter the day before. Those two steps are more time consuming, so you can split the work between days. The milk powder can be kept in a bowl covered with plastic wrap, or in a plastic bag. The brown butter can be kept in a sealed container in the fridge to ensure it’s solid for creaming with the sugar.
Why Toasted Milk Powder?
This recipe does call for 50 grams of toasted milk powder. If you don’t know what toasting milk powder does, let me quickly explain. Toasted milk powder is literally what gives brown butter it’s “brown butter” flavor. Butter has milk solids that are browned during the cooking process (the little brown speckles you see-those are the milk solids). So when we toast dry milk powder, we are essentially replicating that same flavor, just without the butter.
We are intensifying the toasty brown butter flavor by giving it an extra boost, and it compliments the flavors of the banana perfectly.
It’s an optional ingredient, but it requires minimal effort, so please consider adding it. Milk powder can be found in the baking aisle of most grocery stores.
A note about Bananas.
The best bananas for baking are very, very ripe and soft. They need not just a few black spots, but many black spots. The riper the banana, the sweeter and more flavor it packs in. My ideal banana for baking are fully black and brown, just make sure there’s no mold growing on the peel.
This recipe calls for 300 grams of mashed banana. If you are measuring using cups, that’s exactly 1 cup. For the sake of the texture of this cake – please, please measure your bananas before adding to the batter!
I did test this recipe without measuring or weighing how much banana I was adding (I just mashed 3 large bananas). The cake tasted fine, however the texture suffered due to the excess moisture. The cake baked inconsistently, and the texture was lumpy and gummy in some spots. It’s just not the ideal experience we’re looking for here.
Equipment
- 1 9 x 13 baking pan
- Electric Hand Mixer
- 1 Large Whisk
- Parchment paper
- 1 small palette knife optional
- 1 Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
- 165 grams salted butter
- 150 grams light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 50 grams milk powder toasted, optional
- 300 grams mashed banana about 3 medium bananas; weigh or measure
- 120 grams whole milk
- 300 grams all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 5 tablespoons granulated sugar reserved for sprinkling over cake; add more if desired
Instructions
Toast the Milk Powder
- Add the milk powder to a pan set to medium heat. Use a spatula to occasionally stir the milk powder.
- Once the milk powder begins to brown, stir continuously, breaking up any bits that are sticking, until all the powder is a golden amber color.
- Remove from the heat and transfer the milk powder to a bowl to cool completely. Use the spatula to break up any clumps that may have formed.
Brown the Butter
- To a medium saucepan with tall sides, melt the butter on medium heat.
- Once the butter has melted fully and begins to bubble, begin stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or whisk.
- As the butter begins to foam and grow in size, stir continuously. As the milk solids in the butter brown, you'll notice streaks of brown bits throughout the foam as you stir, and it will smell toasty and delicious.
- As the foam subsides, check the butter to see if it's browned to a nice amber color.
- Once the amber color is achieved, remove from the heat and pour into a small bowl. You should now have between 130-140 grams of butter remaining for the recipe.
- Allow the butter to cool completely until solid (feel free to place it in the fridge to speed up the process).
Make the Banana Bread
- To a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, grated nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
- Mash the bananas in a small bowl just until no large chunks remain. Measure out 300 grams worth, or 1 cup, and set aside.
- To a large bowl, combine the browned butter and light brown sugar. The brown butter should be solid – not liquid for this step.
- Using an electric hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until pale, fluffy and voluminous – this can take 3-5 minutes.
- Add in the vanilla extract, followed by one egg. Beat the egg on medium high speed for 1 minute.
- Repeat with the second egg.
- Sprinkle in all of the toasted milk powder, and mix until just combined.
- Follow with the mashed bananas and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Next, add in about ⅓ of the flour mixture, and mix on low speed for no more than 30 seconds or until just combined.
- Add in ½ of the milk and mix in on low until just combined – no more than 30 seconds.
- Repeat these steps with the remaining flour and milk until all ingredients are added.
- Pour the batter into a parchment lined 9 x 13” baking pan, and spread the batter evenly throughout the pan and into the corners using a palette knife.
- Sprinkle the granulated sugar liberally over the batter (feel free to add more if you desire - the more you add, the crunchier the topping will be). Be sure to get into every corner as well.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350 ℉/180 ℃ for 30 minutes (depending on your oven), and rotate the pan at the 15 minute mark. Use a cake tester to test for doneness.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan before serving. Slice and enjoy! Serves well with salted butter or vanilla ice cream.
It’s perfectly crispy on top and warm and gooey inside, I love it thank you!!
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. <3
Will a vegan butter option work just as well for this? I’m lactose intolerant and have been avoiding dairy where I can using oat milk or dairy free butters. Sometimes I feel as though this can affect texture.
Hi Jasmine, I apologize for the late response. Did you end up trying vegan butter for this recipe? It should work just fine!
genuinely the BEST banana bread I’ve made so far, I baked it in a 9 in cake round bc that’s all I had and the texture is a dream, it’s so soft, tender, and fluffy !!! The bread is not too sweet and the banana flavor is light, overall so, so delicious, got compliments from my whole family who tried it !